Red-Hooded Queen
by Romicchi
Summary: After the events of the "Curse of the Blood Moon Ball", Marco is given a very important task by Queen Eclipsa, and realizes that the Queen of Darkness isn't as dark as everyone makes her out to be. Secrets, hidden emotions, assassinations and revolutions are on the horizon, how will Marco, Eclipsa, and the Kingdom of Mewni fare against these unpredictable circumstances?
1. The Honors

Sitting atop the roof of the castle, he finds himself staring at the sunset with nothing in his mind as the wind blows against him. Giving his hair and the cape that Star made for him a bit of a sway as it danced with the breeze. The sunset was unlike the one on Earth, this one was brighter, warmer. Perhaps Mewni was placed a little closer to its sun compared to Earth? Maybe it had a different kind of orbit. Maybe the planet had a different shape?

Him and Star had just returned from their trip to the underworld and their interaction with the severing stone. He feels nothing, and therefore, has nothing to think about. He then realized that his loitering on the rooftop alone was quite silly and pointless. He gets up, dusting himself off. Perhaps he just wanted to see the beautiful sunset, or perhaps he was hoping to recover something he had lost. He isn't sure, but what he IS sure of is that he's hungry and that he wants a snack.

* * *

The mewls and cries of an infant could be heard from a distance as Marco approaches the kitchen area of the castle. He enters the door and sees Eclipsa, the infamous Queen of Darkness, feeding her baby Meteora with baby corn porridge. Marco walks over to the vending machine to grab himself a Snookers bar, and Eclipsa starts to notice the red-hooded kitchen invader. "Oh, Marco. What brings you to the kitchen?" She smiles warmly as she sets the spoon down, Meteora then begins to hiss at Marco, but he's gotten so accustomed to the fact that the baby of the Queen of Darkness will always dislike him, so he pays the hissing no heed and dismisses it as just another normal thing.

"I thought I could use a snack, so I'm just gonna grab a Snookers bar and be on my way to... stare off into space for no reason again." Marco spoke with nonchalance, all the while dropping his money into the vending machine and claiming the candy bar of his choosing. Eclipsa raised a brow. "Well that's just silly, you can't stare off into space for no reason, dear. That warrants you a visit to the strict old mage who lives down the foot of the northeast mountain, or worse, someone on Earth called a 'dentist'." She says as she wipes her daughter's mouth with a bib.

"You mean the psychiatrist? Do we even have those on Mewni?" Marco opens the candy bar and takes a bite as he ponders. Eclipsa ponders this as well. "No, I don't think we do. And I only knew about it because Star mentioned them to me once. She said all doctors were frightening on Earth." Marco chuckles. "That's probably from that one time Star had a toothache from eating too many sugar burritoes that we had to bring her to the dentist. And dentists solve teeth problems, Queen. Not deal with mental issues." Eclipsa raised her brows, it seems she learns something new everyday.

Marco sat down next to Eclipsa and Meteora, slowly munching on his Snookers bar while he tried once more to remember why he was sitting on the rooftop. Did it have something to do with the severing stone? He rests his elbow on the table and places his cheek on his palm.

"All done! Who's ready for playtiiime?" Eclipsa cooed to her baby, and the baby reaches her baby hands out to cup her mother's cheeks. She gets up to leave, but notices Marco's hundred yard stare. She wonders what the young man is thinking about. "Marco, accompany me to Meteora's room. You seem like you have a lot on your mind, I think talking about it will help. Come." She gestures, and Marco gets up to follow her.

* * *

"So, what's on your mind, dearie?" Eclipsa asks with a smile as she watches Meteora play with her toys.

On the ceiling.

"Well, the funny thing is that there's absolutely nothing in my mind." Marco slumps down on his spot on the couch next to Eclipsa. "It's like there's something that I'm supposed to know, something I'm supposed to be thinking about, but it just won't come to mind. As if it's been forcefully erased. I guess the severing stone does more than get rid of unwanted feelings." Eclipsa went wide-eyed at this, she turns her head to look at Marco.

"Janna mentioned it, but I didn't think you two were actually going to go through with it." She asked, remorse clear in her tone.

"One good thing is that my gut doesn't go... 'euuuergghh' anymore. I have that going for me, which is nice." Marco smiles as he stares off into the ceiling, Meteora now chewing her toys and destroying each one with every bite. Eclipsa just stares at the poor boy, not realizing what he's lost and what kind of regrets he'd be faced with in the future.

Marco sighs and looks back to Eclipsa. "So how about you? How are you doing as the current 'Queen of Mewni'?" He places what he calls "pizaz" on the last part, and Eclipsa chuckles a bit at that. "Well I'm a tad bit rusty, dear. I wasn't Queen for very long back when I got coronated. It wasn't even a formal coronation. So just like the next person, I'm clueless on what to do here. My people still don't entirely accept me, but I'm doing my best to deliver to my citizens. And I've received word of an 'Anti-Eclipsa Movement' going around." She whispered the last bit with worry in her tone, not for her or her baby, but for them. She truly did not want to hurt anyone.

"What? An Anti-Eclipsa Movement? That sounds terrible. We should increase our security here in the castle to prevent an assassination or a coup! But we should set qualifications for the personnel that we're going to be hiring, I wouldn't want any spies slipping in past our defenses and listening to our every word." Marco suggested with determination, and Eclipsa is impressed at this. "That's quite an excellent idea. Where do you get these ideas, Marco?" He smiles and places his hands in his hoodie pockets. "Well, I used to read a lot of things on the internet back on Earth." And with that, the mention of a foreign term catches Eclipsa's attention.

"Forgive me for asking something like this, but what is an 'internet', my dear?" Curiosity fills her, and Marco gladly responded. "Well, the internet or 'World Wide Web', is a globally connected network that lets people from all around the planet communicate even though they're far away from each other, and it also serves as a storage for an absolutely massive amount of information that people can share with one another."

Eclipsa is astounded, she's never heard of such a concept. "Like Mirrors, correct?" Marco nods. "Exactly, like mirrors. But we only use mirrors to look at our appearances on Earth, there's no magic there. Instead we access the internet using computers or phones."

The Queen of Darkness is even more astounded by what she's hearing. No magic? Computers? Phones? Such foreign concepts that intrigues her with every passing second. "Do you have a computer phone thingy, Marco?" She asks, and Marco reaches into his pocket to bring out his smartphone. "This is a smart phone. Kind of looks like one of the compacts here on Mewni, right? But check this out." Marco opens his phone and opens his gallery filled with photos of him, Star, him and Star, the laser puppies, and a thousand or more selfies of Janna. "Ugh, Janna. Seriously? This is filling up my storage space."

He begins to delete the abundance of Janna selfies in his gallery, and Eclipsa just watches him operate the foreign technology in awe. "Marco, you're very adept in a lot of things. Technology, combat, intellect. You'd make an excellent King someday!" Marco is flattered at the compliment and laughs a little. "Aw well, maybe not a King, but a King's personal assistant maybe?" He humbles himself, and Eclipsa is struck with an idea.

"Might I suggest that you be MY personal assistant? Some help around leading this kingdom would be of great help to me and the citizens of Mewni. I wouldn't want your talents and abilities to go to waste." Marco is silent, his eyes wide. "Wow, Queen Eclipsa, you really think that highly of me? I mean, I'm just some teenager from another dimension, you sure you want to entrust me with that position?"

Eclipsa nods, "Who else better to entrust this position to if not you?" and Marco scratches the back of his head with a bashful expression.

"I dunno. Star, maybe? I thought she was already your personal assistant?" Eclipsa shrugs a bit to this.

"Star still finds herself responsible for everything that happens around the kingdom. That is understandable, the young lady has lived here all her life, and it wasn't that long ago that she was queen and a royal official. The title was handed to me when the truth was revealed, but I don't think she easily let go of the responsibility that came with the title. And honestly, that's very admirable of her. But I recognize that the little lady has a life of her own, that's why I want to actually do my part in leading this kingdom as its rightful Queen so as to take off the burden that Star carries with her, let her enjoy her youth more, you know?" Marco was listening intently to the Queen as she spoke, how could he not? Her voice was easy on his ears like music.

And he smiled, he discovered a new side to the Queen of Darkness. She cares for her citizens and considers the feelings of those around her. Back when they first met, Marco was willing to subdue this woman with his karate skills to defend Star and maybe the entirety of Mewni, but now he realized that she isn't actually as bad as everyone made her out to be. But he supposes that it's too early to assume that she's a completely nice person, Marco is aware that Eclipsa has her dark moments too. But he has a good feeling that she doesn't have any ill intentions. You know what they say, "hate the sin, love the sinner."

"Well, Queen. That's very considerate of you. I admire that." He says sincerely. He thought about it for a moment before finally deciding, and stands up to place himself in front of Eclipsa, he gets down on one knee and takes a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll do it." Marco says with resolve as he looks up at the Queen. Eclipsa smiles wide. "Very well", She calls her wand to her hand and clears her throat.

"Marco Ubaldo Diaz, I now dub thee... As my Royal Assistant." She taps her wand on both of his shoulders and top of his head. Eclipsa moves her wand away, and Marco looks into her eyes with determination.

Whatever it was that was bothering Marco earlier was now just an after-thought. His mind was focused on one thing now, and that is to serve the Queen and to better the Kingdom of Mewni with his knowledge. He feels hopeful for the future and is excited about the changes that'll come about to this kingdom under his and Eclipsa's guidance. He smiles and with a gentle tone he says:

"Thank you, my Queen."


	2. All Knowledge is Good Knowledge

Imagine having the power to travel to any place you want with a few simple snips of a scissor. This is a power that takes a great deal of skill, effort, and determination to obtain (ask Heckapoo). A power so mighty that anyone who holds it can utilize it for the greater good, or for selfish evil needs. To commit deeds to help the masses, such as in the event of a catastrophe, or to simply commit crimes for their own personal gain.

But for Marco Diaz, he just needed to get to Earth and use the internet.

The familiar sound of reality itself tearing reverberated through the air and a blue portal materialized out of nothingness. Marco and the Queen of Darkness herself, Eclipsa Butterfly, steps through the portal and they set foot on the green lawn of Marco Diaz' household.

Marco closed the portal behind him, and Eclipsa takes her time to take in her surroundings. It was unlike any she'd ever seen before, the architecture, the fauna and flora, the concrete pathways, square bustling machines with wheels passing by them. All of it was so alien to her when she compared it to Mewni. Granted, Eclipsa didn't really have any time to travel to other dimensions and see the sights for herself. She'd only ever spent her life so far within Mewni and with her husband and daughter.

Oh how she'd wish she could take Globgor here and see the sights with her. She just knew that Earth was a beautiful place if she took the time to get around and travel.

"Uh, Eclipsa. Why are you crying? Is Earth too weird? We can go back if you-"

"No, dear. It's quite alright. My thoughts just drifted back to my husband. I miss him so." Eclipsa cut him off to reassure him that she's fine, and Marco nodded. He slowly and awkwardly gave her shoulder a few light pats. Eclipsa appreciates the gesture.

Marco clears his throat and pulls his hand back. "Well, if you look this way," he gestures to his house, "THIS! Is my humble abode. The household of Diaz!" He grins, and Eclipsa takes in the sight of his house. A simple two story with a garage. Cacti lining the edges of the house with a lawn that looked well maintained. "It looks nice, Marco. Quite the variety of flowers all across your garden, what is this thing called?" She points to the cactus and is about to touch it.

"No no no! Don't do that!" He immediately seized her hand before she had the chance to make contact with the cactus. "These are what you call a cactus, they're surrounded by sharp pins that hurts anything that touches them." Eclipsa looks closer, and true enough there were hundreds of pins surrounding the green plant. "Interesting." She says.

Eclipsa then realizes something and looks down. "Marco, dear. I'm not going to touch the cactus anymore, you're free to let go of my hand if you want to." She smiles innocently, and Marco squeaks and immediately lets go. "Sorry, Queen. I wasn't paying attention." He clears his throat, as if to clear away the awkwardness of the situation as well.

"Anyways, come on in!" Marco leads Eclipsa to the door and opens it for her. He steps to the side to let her pass, and she gives him a small bow as thanks for the kind gesture.

"Mom? Daaad! I'm home from Mewni!" Marco called as he closed the door behind him, but the silence that followed after seemed to be the only response to that. He sighed. "They must be out." Marco whips out his phone and gestures for Eclipsa to sit down on the couch in front of the TV. "Alright, Queen. I'm just going to make a quick call, please help yourself to some Earth entertainment while you wait." Marco bows, and whips out the remote seemingly from nowhere and opens the TV.

Eclipsa claps at the little display he put on and then directs her attention to the television.

"Alright, so they left Marco Jr. at a babysitter's house, and they're over at an art gallery, doing business with Dad's paintings. They won't be home until sunset." Marco enters the living room once again as he pockets his phone, only to see Eclipsa's eyes glued to the screen, clutching her blouse as she leans forward sitting on the edge of the couch. He had never seen her so invested in something else like this aside from chocolate bars.

Eclipsa noticed Marco standing there and wiped her eyes, "Apologies, Marco. I was so engrossed in this Earth entertainment you told me to watch. I didn't realize it would evoke such emotions from me. It's like a theatrical play, but all inside this magical black box." Marco chuckles at this and sat down next to her, then he offered her his handkerchief. "The magical black box is called a TV, and hey, it's alright. I tear up at a few dramas here and there too."

"Dramas? Is that what you call these?" She wipes her tears with Marco's handkerchief.

"Well, you just watched what is known as a 'movie'. There are a ton of movies on Earth, and different types of movies. The one you just watched is a drama, which means that the premise of the story focuses more on, well, drama."

"I see. Thank you for introducing me to movies and dramas, Marco."

"Oh no problem, we can watch a lot more of those some other time if you'd like." Eclipsa's face lit up at the thought of watching more movies.

"We can? Well, that would be delightful, dear!" Marco smiles, he's glad that she's invested in movies like Star was when she first discovered them here on Earth.

"Yep! So, let's get started on getting you acquainted with the internet." Marco gets up and runs upstairs to grab his laptop, then runs back down to see Eclipsa fiddling with the remote. "Is this some kind of wand, Marco? I saw you open the Tee-Vee with just one swish of this earlier." Marco sets the laptop down on the table as he opens it. "That's just a remote, Eclipsa. People here use it to control the TV without having to get up and do it manually." Eclipsa nods as she takes the information in. "People on Earth are so innovative. I like it! This dimension never ceases to amaze me, Marco. I do wonder why I've only gotten to know about all of this wonderful information now?"

"Well, do you have dimensional scissors?" Marco asked as he shows off his dimensional scissors to the Queen next to him. A hint of pride in his voice.

"Oh no, I do not. I've heard rumors about the trials you had to go through to get one, rather grueling and troublesome. Seeing as you are the proud owner of those dimensional scissors, can you confirm the rumors?"

"Oh yeah, they're hard to obtain. It'll take you YEARS of hard work and blood, sweat, and tears to get your hands on one of these. Since one is all you'll ever need anyway." Marco says in a cool tone. Well, what he deems cool according to his standards anyway.

"Years?" Eclipsa is intrigued.

"Yep, you heard me. Years. Sixteen to be exact." Marco answered with nonchalance as he fiddled with the blade and looked at his reflection on it.

"But how old are you, dear?" Eclipsa asked with confusion.

"Technically, 34? But physically, I'm 18." Marco explained.

"Sorry dear, I don't quite follow." The Queen was now purely perplexed, her brows furrowed in further confusion.

"In Heckapoo's dimension, Dimension X-103, time works differently. Sixteen years there is only eight minutes here." Marco answers, and Eclipsa's facial features eased up a bit as she got her answer. But was still not fully getting it.

"Oh. That's fascinating. Well you're technically older than me then." The Queen tilted her head to the right with this discovery.

"But you're over 300 years old, right?" It was Marco's turn now to be confused.

"Well, if we disregard the fact that I've been frozen in a crystal for 300 years, I was 28 years old before I was captured." She giggled.

"Huh, so I'm older than you."

"Rather ironic, is it not?"

The two of them share a laugh that soon simmered down to a comfortable silence between the Knight and the Queen, and as Marco finally opens a browser in his laptop, he then types in the keywords they needed to get Eclipsa acquainted with the Earth.

* * *

Red, orange, and yellow draped over the neighborhood of Echo Creek as the sun was beginning to set. And within the Diaz household, Marco and the Queen of Darkness were still positioned in front of the laptop. Halfway into their crash course on Earth governments and the history of human civilization, Eclipsa had voiced her concerns about being uncomfortable wearing her Queen attire the whole day, so Marco immediately lent her his mother's clothing temporarily to rid of the Queen's discomfort. She now dons a casual orange shirt with triangles lining the edges of the sleeves and basketball shorts that once belonged to his father but was now in the possession of his mother because "it looked cute on her". The Queen's hat now gone as she let her hair flow right to her waist, Marco admitted that she looked good with her hair down. And he was definitely impressed, it seems like the Queen looked great in everything she ever wore. But he immediately ceased his staring and continued on with the crash course.

Queen Eclipsa took in all of the information without missing a single beat, and Marco was having fun teaching her and answering every single question she had. Her curiosity was boundless, her attentiveness was astounding, a fast learner she was. When asked why she was so interested in getting to know as much as she can about things like the Dark Arts and now about Earth, she answered with "All knowledge is good knowledge, Marco. And all of it is for the good of others, even if they don't understand it yet." With that, Marco pressed on with the crash course. Happy that he was contributing to a good cause and getting to know the Queen a little bit more.

After a while, Marco and Eclipsa decided that a quick break was in order. It had been hours since their last meal, so Marco took the liberty of whipping up his classic nachos and even tortillas as an added bonus. It'd be great to see the Queen's reaction to a part of Earth's vast variety of cuisine, the boy thought to himself as he prepared the ingredients.

Eclipsa seated herself on the dining table while Marco was cooking the food. Seizing every free moment she had to gain more knowledge. For a moment, she was overwhelmed with the amount of information that this "internet" held within it, she grasped the concept of typing and searching pretty quickly and was following one link to the next without a formal plan. Reading without end. It was an understatement to say that she was happy with discovering this. To her, the Earth was a gold mine of knowledge. And the discovery that, when compared to Earth, Mewni was actually far behind when it comes to technology and numerous other areas of civilization. She was excited to implement the ideas she learned about the governments of Earth and the way of the humans. But there was one thing that intrigued Eclipsa.

"Marco, your people have an affinity for wars it seems." The boy turned his head to look at Eclipsa as she continued to read the laptop in front of her.

"Yeah, is that what you're reading about right now?"

"Yes. Your people have fought numerous wars... against each other. This is quite troubling. Why would they wage wars against their own kin?" Marco leaned on the counter of the sink and crossed his arms.

"Well, for numerous reasons, Queen. For food, for security, for territory, for resources, for riches. It's like war is ingrained in our genes. Human beings have always been ready for war ever since we first picked up a sharp rock. It's terrifying to think about, really, but that's human nature." Marco answered as he washed the dishes he used for preparation and cooking. This was very unlike him to talk about his own species, but it was the truth about humans. Countless wars have been held in the past all for the sake of resources, for territory, and some even for pleasure.

"So humans have violent tendencies too. I see." Eclipsa thought out loud, and Marco was almost ashamed to be human at that moment. What if Eclipsa saw Marco in a different way? He began to get nervous and stopped washing for a moment, then turned to face Eclipsa.

"Queen, I really hope this doesn't change the way you see Earth. I know humans give off a bad impression based on what you just read but-"

"Marco, sweetie. It's alright. I'm not quick to judge. I mean, I DID marry a monster after all. I'm aware that everyone, and every species, has its dark sides. But we sometimes do what we do to survive, right?" She smiles reassuringly. So Marco sighed and nodded, he then decided to turn around and check if his nachos and tortillas were finished. They almost were.

"And humans aren't all about wars, right? Like you taught me, humans are artistic too, creative, humorous, mysterious, weird. There are so many sides to what makes a human, and for me, that's quite fascinating. It's just like when I discovered that monsters weren't actually as bad as Mewmans made them out to be."

"I guess humans and monsters really are alike, huh." Marco absentmindedly stated, and Eclipsa giggled. "I suppose so, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, right dear?" A ding from the oven sounded throughout the kitchen. Marco smiled at her. "Yeah, it isn't a bad thing at all."

Marco put on the mitts and took out his nachos and tortillas. He carefully placed them in plates and dressed them accordingly, then carried them over to the dining table.

"Mi'lady, nachos and tortillas served fresh tonight. Bon appetit!" Marco bowed as he backed up into the kitchen and placed the tray on the sink, and returned to the dining area to eat with the Queen of Darkness.

"What is a bone apple tea, Marco? Is that another human cuisine?" Eclipsa asked eagerly, and Marco chuckled.

"Oh, it's an expression in the French language. It means 'enjoy your meal'."

"Well why couldn't you have just said that? And what is a French language?"

"Ah right, I didn't teach you about that yet. Humans from all around the world speak a language based on where they are. It's a location and culture thing. The language we speak right now is English." Eclipsa is, once again, awestruck at this. Just when she thought she was getting the hang of Earth, there was actually more to learn.

"So exciting! There's so much more to Earth than I thought!" Eclipsa clapped, and Marco gave a small laugh.

"Well, Queen. What are you waiting for? Dig in!"

The two heartily ate the snacks, with Marco intently looking at the Queen to see what her reaction would be to the food. He smiled when she told him that she loved it. It was a fresh and welcome change from the usual corn-based food that they ate on Mewni, she said. (Seriously they are so obsessed with corn.)

The door to the home opened, and in came a man with a small mustache, a woman with long red hair, and in her arms was a baby, cooing and giggling. "Marco! We're home, honey!" The woman spoke.

Marco grinned and got up to greet his parents. He helped them with the stuff they were carrying and tidied up the living room for them to sit and rest. "Mom! Dad! It's been a while! I missed you so much." He gave them hugs, and asked to carry Marco Jr., to which his mother agreed to.

"The people at the art gallery were so picky. It took me all my smooth-talking skills to convince them that my paintings were worth it. Dios mio!" Marco's father, Rafael Diaz, said out loud. To which they all laughed at. "Guess they don't know how to appreciate real art, right dad?" Marco commented, and Angie Diaz, Marco's mother, laughed at that. "Yeah tell me about it. What is up with people nowadays?"

Marco then remembered that he had a guest over. And was embarrassed by his own forgetfulness. "Right right, mom, dad! I've someone to introduce to you both." Angie and Rafael nodded and waited patiently. Marco went to the dining area to retrieve the Queen and brought her over to the living room. The two now stood in front of Marco's parents.

"Mom, Dad. This is Queen Eclipsa Butterfly. The current ruler of Mewni." Eclipsa smiled at them and bowed her head to them. "Thank you for allowing me into your very comfy home, Mr and Mrs Diaz. It is an honor to meet you." Rafael and Angie then panicked and told her not to bow her head. "No no, it's alright Queen. You're free to visit any time. We're even MORE honored to have another member of the royal family of Mewni, aside from Star, come to our home. So what brings you here?" Angie asked as she gestured for the Queen to seat herself on the couch.

"Well Marco, my loyal and punctual knight, is gracing me with the wonders of Earth and all of the knowledge that comes with this dimension. It's been a delight so far. Marco even cooked this wonderful snack called a "tor-tee-yah" for the two of us, it's very delicious!"

"I'm glad that our son is doing such a good job of serving the Monarch of Mewni." Rafael said happily, he then turned to Marco. "Just don't forget to put on anti mosquito lotion, son. Those darned things are everywhere I tell you." He says as he scratches his arm littered with mosquito bites. Marco laughed and nodded, then he looked at Eclipsa. "Oh Queen, there's one more person I'd like you to meet."

He showed her his younger brother, and Eclipsa's eyes were filled with the gaze of a loving mother as she asked if she could hold him, and smiled bright when she was allowed to. "Awwwe, he looks wonderful. Whats his name, dear?"

"Marco Jr." Marco said, and Eclipsa laughed as she bounced the baby gently. "I wasn't aware that you already had a son, Marco."

"No, Queen. You misunderstand. My parents here just decided to name him that because they missed me. Now I have to deal with people questioning me for having a son at such a young age." Eclipsa laughed again, with Marco saying the last part out loud for his parents to hear (to which they laughed at), and Eclipsa then remembers something.

"Oh my, I've been away from Meteora for a while now. I do hope Janna took good care of her. What say you we call it a day and return to Mewni, Marco? Seeing Marco Jr. here made me miss my baby girl so dearly." Eclipsa gently gave the baby back to Angie and said her goodbye to the baby and to Marco's parents. Eclipsa, with a wave of her wand, changed back to her Queen attire and placed Angie's clothes on the couch neatly folded. Marco quickly tidied up the kitchen and dining area.

"Mom, Dad. We're going to go back to Mewni now. Sorry for not staying long." Marco spoke sadly, to which his parents responded by placing one hand on each shoulder.

"Son, you've got your duty as a knight. Of course you're still welcome to come back home any time you'd like. We miss you, and uh, need I remind you that you still have to take college? So you've gotta come back some time, right?" Rafael grinned as he said the part about college quietly so only the two of them would hear, and Marco nodded with a small smile. "Of course, Dad. Now I gotta go. Thank you!"

Marco ripped open a portal and he stepped to the side to let the Queen pass, Marco waved one last time to his parents with a sad smile and stepped through as well. Closing the portal behind him.

Eclipsa enters Meteora's room and saw Janna sitting by Meteora's crib, playing on her phone. "Oh hey!"

"How did it go, any trouble?" Eclipsa places a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Ugh yeah I keep getting stuck on this jump on level 43. Ugh come on." Janna mutters the last part.

"Dee-daw!" Meteora exclaimed from her crib. Eclipsa gasps.

"Did... did you just say, 'daddy'? Oh my darling, you're such a genius!" Meteora laughs as Eclipsa picks her up and they bond.

Eclipsa smiles. She loves her baby Meteora so.

* * *

**Authors Note: **

**Hey everyone! Good day! I'm so sorry if the story seems slow paced or if there's too many details or what not. But I hope you're all enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it and planning it out. To my loyal readers, (the ones that have read Earth Boy Charms), sorry for not updating for so long on that one. Rest assured, I'll continue once I have time. But right now with the way things are going in the show, Marclipsa is life.**

**I write this story with the hopes that my fellow Marclipsa shippers will be inspired to create their own artworks based on this ship. Art, fanfictions, anything! I am urging you all to be creative and to share your talents and art with the world! We need more Marclipsa in the world!**

**Thank you for reading so far, expect more chapters since I already have this story planned out from beginning to end. And as you noticed that this story has a touch of realism in it, you can base your guesses of the upcoming chapters based on that.**

**I think I've rambled on for long enough. Thank you again for reading! Marclipsa shippers UNITE! Follow the svtfoe-marclipsa blog on Tumblr and share your love for the Red-Hooded Knight and the Queen of Darkness there!**


	3. Mall Day

"Do we have enough men for this plan?"

"Not yet sir, just a few more then we'll carry it out. I heard the kingdom is hiring security personnel right now, maybe we can take advantage of that."

"Sure. Also, get a hold of those men. We need to do this as soon as possible. I'm sick of having to live another day under her rule. Our lives are miserable here."

"Agreed. The previous one did a better job than her."

"Come on, boys. Let's beat it, before we attract any more attention."

The men dispersed, clearing the alley way that they had previously occupied. One of them adjusted their armor, and headed back to their post.

In the Monster Castle.

* * *

Eclipsa marvels at the sight of the building before her. It was three or four storeys high, a multitude of glass windows, and people flooding in and out of the entrance and exit. The place looks very well kept, the tiled floors shining and the glass doors spotless.

"Welcome to the mall, Queen Eclipsa!" Marco announces as they arrive. Eclipsa gets off of Marco's bike and the boy follows suite. Chaining his bike to the bike post. The two take off their helmets and Marco places it on the bike neatly.

"So this is a mall. Looks quite crowded, Marco."

"That's just how malls are. Always filled with people. Wouldn't really be a mall if it was empty, they'd go out of business!"

"Hm, I suppose so. Alright then, let's go inside!" Eclipsa said excitedly.

Marco and Eclipsa have been going back and forth Earth and Mewni for a week now, the two reading, researching, and studying as much as they can about the Earth. And Marco admits that he's learned more than he ever did at school, which was a good thing. All knowledge is good knowledge, the Queen said to him. And he really did believe it.

Today, Marco decided to give Eclipsa a break from all the knowledge intake, fearing that she'd have an information overload one of these days. So he took her to the mall to introduce her to the more up close features of Earth's culture and way of life. Better to get some hands-on experience on these things rather than just relying on reading all the time, he thinks to himself. He looks at Eclipsa, she was wearing a white flowy blouse, her usual elbow length gloves, dark blue jeans, and blue sandals. And all of Marco's red hoodies were in the wash, so he went with a casual cream shirt with red edges on the sleeves and collar, and brown shorts while still wearing his usual sneakers.

Once they enter the mall, Eclipsa couldn't decide which way to look while they walked around. Everything was so new and so interesting to her, there were so many people walking by them too, and so many smells were hitting her nostrils at once. All so savory and easy on her nose.

Marco decided to stop by a pastry shop in the mall, and let Eclipsa look over the display shelf to pick out what she wanted to buy. Her eyes scanned and scanned, not able to pick just one since they all looked so good. She decided to close her eyes and point at a random choice, and when she opened her eyes, she read the label of the food item she got.

"Chocolate cre-peh? What's a cre-peh?"

"It's pronounced 'crep', and trust me, they're good. Especially since they're chocolate. Mr. Cashier! I'd like to order two of your finest chocolate crepes, please." Marco spoke in an exaggerated british accent the moment he called the cashier, and Eclipsa giggled while the cashier wrote their order down and accepted their cash.

"Marco, dear. Are you making fun of me?" Eclipsa asked as the two of them went to sit on an empty table.

"Oh no, dah-rling, this is simply how the richest of citizens on Earth speak." Marco continued with his fake posh accent, now taking a look at his nails to act all fancy, and Eclipsa was starting to chuckle now.

"I thought my accent was exclusive to Mewmans only, I didn't realize some humans spoke this way too."

"Mewmans and humans are very similar in a lot of ways. The only difference I see being is that some Mewmans can turn into giant humanoid butterflies? Is it only Star and Moon or can every Mewman do that? Can YOU do that?" Marco's eyes now wide with curiosity. He wanted to know.

"Oh, you see Marco, Mewmans are-"

The waiter arrived with their order, and their attentions were immediately diverted to the mouth-watering food in front of them.

Eclipsa carefully picked up her food and inspected it. Marco watched with delight. "Come on, Queen. It's good, I swear." Eclipsa then took a bite, and after a few seconds of chewing her first bite... well.

Marco could definitely say that the crepe didn't last long in her hands and was in a better place now.

"Mawrcoh, itsh sho ghood. One mhowr phlesh."

"Now now, Queen. Where are your manners? Don't speak when your mouth is full." Marco gently spoke like a mother would to their child, and Eclipsa swallowed the heavenly food with gusto and grinned, bits of chocolate still on her teeth.

"Apologies, Marco. But it tastes amazing!" Eclipsa was rubbing her cheeks, hoping to keep the memory of her eating crepes for the first time in her mind forever. Marco laughed and slid his crepe over to the overjoyed Queen.

"Here, you can have mine. Guess you've got a new favorite food now, eh?"

Eclipsa vigorously nodded, the entire crepe already in her mouth. Marco chuckled. Who knew the Queen was so adorable like this? He thought to himself as he watched her enjoy the crepe. Eclipsa noticed that Marco was staring at her, and quickly swallowed her food and cleared her throat as she regained her composure. "Sorry about that unprofessional display, Marco"

Marco shook his head and reassured her. "Oh no no, it's fine, Queen. We're only human after all. There really isn't a need to be so formal with me all the time, you know?"

"Well, human AND mewman." Eclipsa corrected, and Marco shook his head. "Right right. Sorry, I forgot."

A comfortable silence then ensues between the two. Marco decides to break the silence.

"You want another crep-"

"Yes please."

"Right away then!"

Marco bought Eclipsa two more crepes, and decided that they should head to the next attraction in the mall. They had the whole day after all, so many possibilities. And 650 dollars in his pocket.

* * *

Marco held the tickets, the popcorn, and sodas in his hands as Eclipsa followed close. "What is this place, Marco? And why is it so dark?" Eclipsa makes her wand glow, but Marco quickly covered it up. "Ah that's not a good idea here. We're in the theatres, Eclipsa. People come here to watch movies and we wouldn't want to bother them with the bright light that your wand gives out." Once Marco said it, he could just tell that Eclipsa's face was lighting up even if he couldn't see it.

"We're going to watch a movie again, like the one on your TV?"

"Yup. Now hold on to my shoulder, I wouldn't want you to trip and get lost in the dark."

"Okay, but let me remind you that I dabble in the DARK arts, Marco. The darkness isn't a problem at all, in fact, call me a villainess." She said in a playful tone, and Marco chuckled as they found their seats.

"I'm absolutely terrified, oh so powerful Queen of Darkness. Spare me and my prussian blue wallet!" The two of them laughed, and Marco guided the lady to her seat, and sat himself down next to her. He gave her a box of popcorn and a cup of soda, and just on time, the movie began.

Eclipsa didn't ask questions like Star did when they first tried theaters, she simply kept her eyes on the screen the entire time. It seems that she's already familiar with movie theater etiquette, Marco thought to himself as he stared at her with the light of the theater screen shining on her pale face. Those spade marks on her cheeks and purple lipstick looked great with the mixture of darkness and dim movie screen light.

She looks really great with this lighting. And he was starting to think that her title should be changed to "Queen of Looking Good Even In the Darkness".

He smiled at his own dorky thoughts, then directed his attention the movie.

* * *

Halfway through the movie, lewd noises and shuffling were heard from below them, Eclipsa's focus on the movie was broken and she looked for the source of the noises and was wide-eyed at the public display of intimacy from the couple seated on the row in front of them. She covered her mouth in shock and tugged on Marco's sleeve.

"Marco, Marco. What are those two people doing? Shouldn't they get a room for those sorts of things?" Eclipsa asked in a hushed whisper, her face so close to Marco's that he could feel her breath. Marco blushed, but it wasn't visible in the dim lighting. He entertained her question by looking at what she was pointing at. And there it was, a couple making out on the row below them.

"Yeah, couples usually come to the movie theatres so they could have a place to make out and do lovey-dovey stuff. It's nothing new." Marco answered in a hushed tone.

"Is it a mandatory thing to do here in the theatres?" Eclipsa asked innocently, and Marco's blush deepened further as he shook his head furiously.

"No, Eclipsa. It isn't mandatory. Only couples who are IN LOVE do that here... Or couples that are in heat. Either one of the two or usually both." He managed to squeak out awkwardly. Okay, maybe the last few parts were unnecessary, Marco thought to himself.

Eclipsa blushed, she's then reminded that it has been a while since she has had any... mature and explicit encounters with her monster husband. She swallows. This wasn't the time to be thinking about things like those! She shakes her head to rid herself of those thoughts and cups her cheeks. "Alright, let's get back to the movie now, Marco. Thank you for... clarifying things." Eclipsa let go of her cheeks and did her best to ignore the noises that the couple below them were still making.

"Let's just ignore them, Eclipsa. It's what I usually do." Marco explains to try and lessen the awkwardness, and rests his right arm back on the arm rest. But he didn't realize that Eclipsa's left arm was on it, so their hands came into contact. And Marco immediately retracted it. "Sorry! Sorry." Eclipsa then removed her hand and reassured him that it was alright. Why were there so many things happening at once?

The two were a blushing mess. Occupied with their own thoughts that they were both trying to get rid of. They could barely even focus on the movie playing in front of them anymore, but nevertheless, they tried.

But it wasn't easy.

* * *

Marco and Eclipsa exited the theaters once they finished with the movie, they both stretched and disposed of their trash.

"That was a great movie, Marco. I'm looking forward to more of those." Eclipsa said with a gentle smile, and Marco felt glad that she enjoyed the movie despite the awkward interaction inside. But before he could say something...

A man wearing a mask sped past the two.

"THIEF! STOP!" The yell was heard from a distance, and they turned to see two police men chasing after the masked man who was carrying a duffel bag.

"What are they doing, Marco?" Eclipsa sounded worried, and he immediately brought out his dimensional scissors. "A robbery. Wait here."

Marco quickly made a portal, jumped in, and came back out with his dragon cycle. He revved the engine, and Eclipsa was staring with shock and awe, she was very impressed.

"Get on, Eclipsa. We have a thief to chase down." Marco said, his casual clothes were gone and were now replaced with his Adult Marco clothes. The Queen, not needing to be told twice, got on immediately and held on to the young man as he sped towards the direction of the thief.

The dragon cycle flew, and Marco was carefully scanning the crowds. Once he spotted the thief and the policemen, he dived down. But this caught Eclipsa off guard.

"MARCOOOOOO!" Eclipsa exclaimed, not with fear, but with excitement. Marco then stood on the dragon cycle and jumped behind Eclipsa. "You drive while I put an end to this criminal's evil ways." Eclipsa immediately held on to the dragon cycle's horns and a look of panic was now on her face, replacing her excitement. "But Marco, I don't know how to drive this thing!"

"Don't worry, it's on auto-pilot." He said before jumping off the dragon cycle and landing in front of the thief, who quickly swerved to go a different direction. Marco made chase, running as fast as he could. The thief knocked over shelves and plants to make sure the policemen and Marco couldn't get to him, but Marco took his scissors and with a quick snip, was suddenly standing in front of the thief.

Marco pulled his fist back and punched the thief right in the gut, everyone around them gasped in unison. The blow was enough to disorient him and subdue him. And when the policemen arrived, they took the items that the thief stole and thanked Marco for his bravery. The dragon cycle landed beside him with Eclipsa still on it. She got off and immediately checked Marco for injuries.

"Oh dear are you alright? Did that thief rough you up?" She cupped his cheeks and inspected his face, his arms next for bruises. He blushed at the close contact, but cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.

"Queen Eclipsa, I can assure you with full confidence that I have sustained no injuries whatsoever." Marco once more started with the fake british accent, and that elicited a laugh from the monarch, then she sighed with relief as she let go of his face.

"I'm glad. But please be more careful next time, Marco. You could've gotten hurt." She clutched her wand, worry was clear on her face.

"Hey, it's all good Queen. Just another regular day on the job for Marco Danger Diaz. That's right, my middle name is Danger." Marco posed all cool-like, and Eclipsa chuckled.

"Sorry to spoil your moment, but it's Ubaldo, right?"

"Yeah, it's Ubaldo." Marco said as his shoulders slumped, Eclipsa laughed, and soon after, so did he.

Marco then opened a portal, stroked the dragon cycle's chin and allowed it to pass through the portal.

"So, you want to continue our little mall adventure?" Marco asked while closing the portal, hoping that this incident didn't ruin the day for her.

"Why of course! Where to next, Captain?" Eclipsa grinned, eager to find out where her guide is taking her next.

* * *

A portal opens, Marco and Eclipsa comes through it with multiple shopping bags in their hands. The two had exhausted the former's money by buying things from the mall, Eclipsa bought more toys for her daughter and some Earth food that she thought the little princess might like. Star then rounds the corner, and upon seeing them, she immediately approached.

"Eclipsa! Where have you been? The Rich Pigeon ambassador got here five minutes ago!" Star exclaims, and Eclipsa's brows scrunch up in confusion.

"What? I thought I was free for today?" Star smooths her frazzled hair.

"Apparently not, and it's a good thing you weren't gone too long. Now get over there." Marco takes the bags from Eclipsa. "Here, allow me." Eclipsa gave him a quick thank you and sped off to the meeting hall. The two teens watched her go on her way, and Star then faced Marco.

"Hey Marco, where've you been this past week? I barely see you around the castle anymore." Marco shrugged casually.

"Oh, I've just been introducing Eclipsa to Earth, reading about the governments and civilizations there and everything else she found interesting." Star's left brow raised up.

"Uh, why?" And another shrug from Marco while he was fixing up the shopping bags.

"All knowledge is good knowledge, she says." Star crossed her arms and lowered her tone.

"You sure she isn't planning anything suspicious?"

"Star, I've been with her all week, and I can assure you that the 'Queen of Darkness' isn't up to any darkness. Have faith in the Queen, yow!

Star purses her lips. "Alright, Marco. I trust you."

"Good. Now anyways, I'll be on my way, Star. These bags aren't gonna carry themselves." Marco smiled and walks one step, then stops. "Unless you can levitato them to the Queen's room for me." Star chuckled. "Sure, buddy."

Star readied her hands, then cast the spell. All of the baggage now floating in the air surrounded by a blue mist, and the two began walking towards the Queen's room.

As they walk, Star couldn't help but shake the feeling that her and Marco have become somewhat distant, she looked at him. Did it have anything to do with the severing stone? She thinks to herself. There was an odd feeling of emptiness between the two of them. As far as she can remember, they had gone to the severing stone, then left. She doesn't remember much in between that. Was there something that she was supposed to know?

The silence between them was comfortable, and that's how it should be when you're walking side by side with your bestie. Right? Right. Then I suppose there's nothing wrong. The former princess thinks to herself.

There's nothing wrong. Aaabsolutely nothing wrong.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Good day, fellow Marclipsa Shippers! How are you all doing today? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review, follow, favorite, and stay tuned for more!**

**I already planned Chapter 4 and 5 out. So be on the lookout for those!**

**Responses to Reviews:**

**To allen Vth  
\- Thank you for reading! I've read your review, thank you for your thoughts! Also, I hope university life isn't too harsh on you, I'm still waiting on your Butterfly Swap story. It's amazing so far! And I'm happy to see another Marclipsa writer read my story. Thank you again!**

**To Slimster22  
\- Yep. The world lacks Marclipsa. That's why I'm trying to fill in that gap for all of you, my fellow Marclipsa fans! Stay tuned for more!**

**To Starco4everr  
\- Here you go! Another chapter! Enjooooy!**

**To AchingHeart2011  
\- Thank you for reading! I'm glad I got you hooked!**


	4. Negotiations

There's that feeling of satisfaction and empowerment when you're atop of a hill or top of a mountain as you view the vast expanses of the land and see what beautiful sights the area has to offer, with the accompanying breeze of the wind at such a high altitude and the warmth of the sun. Such is the feeling of Marco Diaz the Knight, and Eclipsa Butterfly the Queen of Darkness as they stood on the balcony of the Monster Castle. The new Butterfly Kingdom was now beginning to flourish, with houses being built here and there, the market now being established. But the Knight and Queen had so much more in mind that they'd like to add in to the Kingdom. A massive project that'd change Mewni forever.

Marco and Eclipsa stood next to each other, leaning on the railing that had been newly installed to prevent people from falling to their doom when atop the balcony, the wind pushed against the boy's hair and the Queen's hat. Marco then faced Eclipsa.

"So. Let's run through the plan one more time?"

"Yes, one more time."

"Alright." Marco took out his little notepad and pencil, Eclipsa leaned in to see what he writes. "We'll implement a more efficient and proper waste disposal here in Mewni, seeing as the citizens have no idea on what to do with their stuff when they're done with them. I mean look at the lakes and rivers, they're getting polluted with garbage." Eclipsa nodded. "Proceed."

"Next, we'll start a mining project to mine useful metals instead of focusing on just gems like the previous Kingdom used to. I mean seriously, doesn't Mewni have enough jewelry? Who uses them anyway?" Marco continued scribbling on his notepad, another nod from Eclipsa. "Next?"

"We start up factories to produce armor, weaponry, tools, and a lot of other things that we or the citizens might use in the future." Eclipsa stroked her chin, deep in thought.

"We could also begin planting crops aside from corn this time. That'd be useful with trade, we'd be well-known for introducing new crops to Mewni that isn't corn! Think about it!" Eclipsa nodded again. "True. Proceed."

"Refine our laws, establish a proper army, introduce currency..." Marco read through his list quicker, Eclipsa agreed with all of them.

"And maybe... convert the Butterfly Kingdom into a democracy?" Eclipsa's face scrunched up, she saw multiple problems with this. "Now dear, I'm not quite sure our Kingdom is ready for that one. It'd be too sudden, I'm afraid." Marco stared off, deep in thought. Then he nodded. "Yeah, agreed. Let's not proceed with that one. Maybe when the Kingdom is more stable and prepared, we'll transition." Eclipsa gave a thumbs up. Marco flipped his notepad to the next page.

"And lastly, we can't really implement the systems I mentioned unless we establish an Education System. One that assesses a Mewman's abilities and see which department or system they would fit best into." Marco bit the tip of his pencil.

"We'd need a curriculum for that. I remember you telling me about 'classes' in schools on Earth, so I read about them and realized their importance once I read enough. Is there anyone you know that could possibly help us construct a curriculum for the education system?" Eclipsa noted, and Marco snapped his fingers.

"Queen Moon!" Eclipsa nodded. "Oh that's a good idea. She has been running the place for a long time and the citizens all depended on her to do everything. So she knows about what people would need to know in order to get a certain task done in a certain field."

"Exactly!"

"Problem is, dear. Will she? I mean, she walked away from this Kingdom the moment I stepped in. I'm not even sure if she's on good terms with me, since Star mentioned her not trusting me yet." Eclipsa looked down at her hands, fiddling with them.

"Oh, I'll talk to her, Queen Eclipsa. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll go over there right now and bring out the good ol' Diaz smooth-talking skills." Marco fixed his hair and flashed his classic Marco smile, and Eclipsa giggled.

"Are you sure it's not too much trouble?"

"Of course! I've got a duty to this Kingdom. I'm thankful enough to be contributing to a grand cause." Eclipsa sighed in relief at this.

"Thank you so much, Marco. Anyways, is there anything else on the agenda?" Marco checked his notepad again, then closed it. "Nope. That's it for now." Eclipsa then nodded.

"Alright dear, I'll have to excuse myself now. It's Meteora's lunch time, and I want to sit with Globby." Marco felt something familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time bother him in the back of his head, but he chose to ignore it. "Alright Queen! I'll head on over to Queen Moon now. I just have to call Star and ask her where she is." Eclipsa waved goodbye as she walked towards the door leading back into the castle. Marco sighed and turned around to take in the sight of the kingdom one more time, before taking out his dimensional scissors and ripping open a portal and entering it, leaving the balcony silent save for the occasional blow of the wind and the chirp of a bird that passes by.

* * *

"Alright sir, Serberus is almost done constructing a complete layout of the Castle. He just needs a few more days to flesh out the details and we can decide where to position our men."

"And the troops?"

"We're still looking, sir. But good news is that a few of our men have already infiltrated the Castle's ranks. Our info comes from them, sir."

"Well done. Our weaponry?"

"Being forged and sharpened as we speak."

"Good. Once everything is complete, execute the final preparations."

Just then, a large hooded figure joined the secret discussion. And with his rough, deep voice he spoke. "Are things going smoothly?"

"Ah Grandmaster! Yes, it's going well. Everything's almost ready. The plan will be executed in a week's time."

"A week? Why not tomorrow?"

"With all due respect, sire. We cannot execute an assassination if we aren't prepared yet."

"That's just dumb!" The Grandmaster spoke, despite his rough and intimidating voice, he sounded like a child. "Patience, Grandmaster. The plan will succeed, have faith in us." The Grandmaster then sighed.

"Very well." And with that, he turned around and left, leaving the rest of the conspirators to their planning.

* * *

"I must say, Marco. These plans are actually brilliant. First time in a while I've seen a project that actually makes sense AND is productive." Moon says with a feeling of excitement, placing her hands on her lap.

"Well, most of it is Queen Eclipsa's work. I'm just here doing my best to assist." Moon looked surprised.

"Eclipsa? These are her plans?" Marco casually shrugged, then gave her his notepad.

"Our plans, technically. But she's the Queen, most of the credit goes to her of course." Moon then proceeds to look over Marco's notepad.

"Hmm. Alright, I'll think it over. Give me documents on the curriculums of Earth's education system and I'll use that as a basis." Moon says with an air of professionalism, and Marco got up.

"Sure! Let me just portal over there really quick and..."

Marco then scissored his way to Earth, then came back a few minutes later with papers placed neatly inside a folder held by fasteners.

"Well, that was quick." Moon noted.

"I already had the documents prepared incase this meeting went smoothly. I plan ahead, y'know. Kinda my thing."

"I'm impressed. Well anyways, this has been a fruitful conversation. And I'm proud of you. Both you and Star have grown so much and it's a little frightening to realize that I'm getting old."

"You sure don't look old, Queen. You're looking pretty fresh." Marco does finger guns as he says this, Moon rolls her eyes.

"You can leave now, Marco."

"Yes Queen." Marco agreed almost immediately.

Marco and Moon laughed that last bit over, and they bid their goodbyes.

River arrives, covered in mud and carrying a big log. "Who was that, dear?" He said, putting down the log. "That was Marc- what is the log for, River?"

"You would not believe it, but I found an animal that looks EXACTLY like a log. Trust me, it's delicious."

"River, it's JUST a log."

"No Moonpie, appearances can be deceiving, I know, but bite into the wood and you will see."

Moon sighs. I suppose some things will never change, she thinks to herself.

* * *

"Open wide, sweetie!" Eclipsa made a train noise as she slowly put the spoon in Meteora's mouth. The baby took the food and happily ate it, clapping her small hands. Eclipsa smiled up to her eyes, her expression completely filled with unadulterated joy.

She then looked at the giant crystal beside them. "How about you, dear? You hungry?"

Silence. The monster's expression unchanging. She shrugged.

"Alright then. Suit yourself, honey." Eclipsa casually spoke as she continued feeding Meteora.

Once the baby was done eating, Eclipsa carried her in her arms and headed towards the child's room. "Time for a naaap, baby girl." And as if on cue, the baby yawned. Eclipsa set the baby down in her crib and gave her a headless teddy bear to hug while she slept. The Queen's heart almost melted watching her daughter sleep like an angel. "Mommy's gonna go now, darling." Eclipsa quietly spoke, then headed out the door.

Eclipsa ended up back in Globgor's room, her eyes trained solely on her husband. Her smile from before slowly disappearing. She approached slowly and placed her hand on the surface of the crystal. "I miss you so much, Globby." She spoke whilst trying to contain her own tears, but they still fell against her wishes. The ground by her feet now painted with droplets of her tears. She rested her forehead against the crystal and gave a deep sigh.

The sound of a portal was heard from outside the door, and Marco entered. Stopping himself from saying something when she saw the Queen standing in front of the crystal that imprisoned her husband, silent and unmoving.

Marco stared at the Queen's back, her sobs that she was trying to keep quiet were causing her chest to heave in unnatural rhythms, he stepped closer without making a sound.

Her silent crying, her pain, it was like he could feel it too. He wanted to console her and rid her pain for her, but was afraid that his efforts would be brushed away and be met with an awkward look from the Queen. He noticed that despite everything she's done, like compromising her dignity for the sake of an alliance with the Spiderbite Kingdom, dealing with judgement from her people, having to see her husband encased in crystal every day not knowing if she'll ever get to feel his warmth ever again, she still remained strong. Marco could tell that she didn't want to disappoint everyone the same way she did 300 years ago, a lot of people are counting on her and it were only rare instances that she could let out her feelings and frustrations like this when she was alone. So he decided not to bother her. She needed this. She needed to let it all out.

She really misses him, huh. He thinks to himself as he looks up to Globgor's face, his fangs in full display and claws brandished. I wonder what kind of person he was to have won Eclipsa's heart. Despite his terrifying appearance, he must've been great. A charmer for sure, a dancer maybe, even a singer perhaps since Eclipsa's into music, oh Marco could just tell that the two were perfect for each other if he made Eclipsa cry like this.

Marco looked at Eclipsa again, her crying seems to have lessened. And Marco takes a step back to get a better view of Globgor.

This man must've been so damn amazing. He thinks to himself before finally turning to leave.

Just then, Eclipsa turned around and saw him. "Marco! How long have you been standing there?" Marco panicked and walked backwards slowly and awkwardly.

"Oh, Queen! Sorry, did I come at a bad time? I can just come back later and-"

"It's alright!" Eclipsa hurriedly wiped her tears. "No need to leave. So how did the talk with Moon go?"

Eclipsa approached, and Marco scratched the back of his head. "It went well, she said she'll think it over and asked for some documents, that's a sign of a mission accomplished, right?" Eclipsa stopped in front of him and smiled, her eyes still wet and the pain still visible through the smile she put on for him. He wasn't buying it one bit.

"It is. I'm glad to hear that!" Marco did his best not to point it out, since he felt that it wasn't in his place to talk to her about it.

"And this plan of ours... to modernize Mewni." Marco placed his hands in his hoodie pockets. "It's going to take a looooong time. I mean, it took Earth thousands of years to get to where it's currently at right now. From stone tools, to modern technology. This is a very ambitious project. I mean I've got other things to take care of too, so..."

"Yes, Marco. One day my Meteora is going to have to take over this project of ours and continue it in our stead, then her daughter next if it doesn't finish within her rule, then so on. I understand that this project will take multiple generations to finish, and I have hope for what we're trying to achieve here for Mewni. All thanks to you."

"Hey, it's all thanks to you too. Your guidance to a better future is something that can't be taken lightly either."

"Oh Marco, you flatter me. Alright, let's finalize our plans and make documents that we can give to the officials of the neighboring Kingdoms. We're gonna need their help, resources, and workforces to make this project a reality. We'll begin arranging meetings for the following week, so I hope you're free then."

"Of course. As you wish, my Queen." Marco said as he bowed to the Queen of Darkness. Eclipsa smiled gently, and bowed as well out of gratitude.

* * *

Three days have passed since that little encounter they had in Globgor's room. Marco and Eclipsa have been travelling from Kingdom to Kingdom holding meetings and forming alliances, striking deals, offering trade. Each had their own difficulty and different demands. But they all rejoiced on the one thing that Marco and Eclipsa showed them.

Globgor encased in his crystal, never to be freed again.

This atleast gave them peace of mind, and it made meetings and deals easier. But Marco could see Eclipsa's fists balling up behind her everytime she showed them Globgor, all of the inconsiderate things they said, all of the sighs of relief they gave upon seeing her poor husband trapped. Marco could just hear her screaming "If only you'd take the time to get to know him! If only you all would just try and understand for once! You people don't even know the whole story!", but never saying it, Marco could see the grief in her eyes. Yet Eclipsa smiled, she kept up her facade. But Marco knew what was behind that well-rehearsed smile.

Marco and Eclipsa sat in the carriage opposite of one another in silence as it trekked towards the Johansen Kingdom. Marco looking at Eclipsa as she stared out the little window of the door. Marco could just feel it, her frustration, irritation, and exasperation at how close-minded the people of Mewni really are. Marco looked down at his feet and sighed, this modernization project was going to be a difficult journey if the people really possessed such a toxic mindset.

Eclipsa then looked over to Marco, she was going to ask about their plans after the Johansens, but saw his troubled expression. Was he perhaps tired? Hungry? Thirsty?

"Marco, are you alright?" Eclipsa asked, concern lacing her tone. Marco looked up in confusion.

"What? I'm alright, Queen. Why do you ask?"

"You look like you've got something on your mind, dear. What is it?" Marco sighs as he looks out the window, fiddling with his fingers. It was supposed to be the other way around.

"I should be asking YOU if you're alright, Queen."

"Me? But there's no problem, Marco. Why would you ask that?" A blatant lie, he could tell.

"Honestly, I can see how irritated you get everytime you show the other royals Globgor in that crystal. Isn't that demeaning? And all the things they say, I'm worried about how it makes you feel. I'm worried about you, Eclipsa" Marco spoke, the truth hurling out of his mouth, not caring if it made things awkward anymore. Eclipsa was taken by surprise. She didn't realize that Marco was thinking about all of this for her, she appreciated it a thousand fold and smiled.

"How I feel? Marco, it doesn't matter. They can hurl as many insults as they want, but I'm doing it all for the future of Mewni. None of these other Kingdoms are going to begin a modernization project like we are anyway, so they don't really have a right to say anything in the first place."

"Well, that's true and all. But..."

"Shhh." Eclipsa got up and sat beside the boy, she took both of his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes.

"Sweetie, I've heard much worse 300 years ago. People dislike things that they don't understand, because people are most afraid of the unknown. They might not get it now, nor tomorrow, nor next week, nor in the next five years. But I have faith that they will someday. You know I'm called the Queen of Darkness, so I know better than anyone else that even in darkness, there will always be light. So have faith. Because if I don't let them get to me, then they sure shouldn't get to you."

Marco just looked her in the eyes. He could still see her pain, her anger, her frustration, but beside all those things, he could see the desire for peace, ambition, and hope. A hope that was also present within him. It inspired him. He resonated with it. And without any thought, he squeezed her hands firmly to assure her of his unyielding support. He nodded with a small smile.

"Of course, my Queen... I'm sorry for letting my emotions get the best of me."

Eclipsa smiled with the gentleness of an angel. "It happens to all of us, Marco. Hopefully you know better now."

"I do, Eclipsa. Thank you."

Eclipsa slowly let go of his hands, the warmth leaving him and he missed it immediately.

"No, Marco. Thank you. You've done so much over the past few weeks. Is there any way I can repay you somehow?"

"Oh it's fine, Queen. I'm happy enough being able to help you in any way I can. And plus I already get a room in the castle and free food every day, so that should be enough." Marco politely denied the offer, but she wasn't backing down. He deserved a reward.

"Oh but I insist, dear. I just know I have to repay you back for all you've done so far."

"Queen, I can assure you. There's no need for that, I get royalty checks remember?"

Before the Queen could respond, the carriage came to a complete stop and the driver announced their arrival at the Johansens Kingdom. Marco got off first and offered his hand for Eclipsa to take and helped her down the carriage. "I swear these things are difficult to walk in" Eclipsa grabbed her formal Queen wear and lifted it up to help her walk.

"Queen Eclipsa, stay close. The Johansens are a rowdy bunch, so let's just be careful around here." And with that, Eclipsa nodded. Walking upright as if a book where on her head and staying close to Marco while they were being guided to the Johansens meeting hall. But as they were walking, Eclipsa looked at Marco's back and was reminded of something.

She had absolutely no idea what the boy would like as a gift. The Queen felt a great debt was owed to Marco for everything he's done so far. Knowledge isn't an easy thing to acquire, it was just as hard as mining or digging or farming. It takes patience, skill, and careful planning. But with Marco, he handed it to her on a silver platter, and she was thankful for that. So she racked her brain for anything that the boy might like, but came up empty. Did she really not know Marco well enough to know what he would want as a gift? She face palmed. She was a bit disappointed in herself for being such a bad friend. But the moment they arrived at the doors of the meeting hall, she decided that it could wait. Focus on the task at hand first.

* * *

"So let me get this straight... You say your kingdom is on this... path to "Modernization", and you need our very muscular and handsome citizens as your workers for that project of yours?" The King stroked his beard while flexing his muscles. His accent a thicker and deeper version of River's.

"Yes, that is correct." Eclipsa stated bluntly.

"Well, what's in it for us? What do we get for helping you?" The King narrowed his eyes.

"We-"

"Ah ah ah, save it. We Johansens are a very meticulous bunch. We care not for simple pleasures that you could possibly offer us." The King crossed his arms and turned his head the other way.

The entire hall was filled with half naked men brawling and roughhousing, knocking over decorations and paintings on the shelves and walls. Others were throwing food at each other and having a yelling contest to see who can scream the loudest. Eclipsa sighed, quite a meticulous bunch indeed. Marco stepped in, putting a hand up to assure the Queen. "I got this." He clears his throat and with a confident smile he says.

"We will resume shipment of your yearly supply of corn." All of the Johansens in that hall all paused and looked at the boy in the red hoodie, the silence was eerie.

Then everybody, even the King, burst into a mad frenzy of laughter, cheers, and joyous exclamations.

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? OF COURSE WE'LL HELP."

Eclipsa looked at Marco as if he grew another head. Which already happened in the past, by the way. Marco simply brushed imaginary dirt off of his shoulder and whipped out the papers for the King to sign. And the King immediately did so with glee, hugging the boy and jumping around like a kangaroo. Eclipsa laughed at the sight of Marco struggling to breathe while he was handled like a teddy bear by a bearded bodybuilder.

Once Marco and Eclipsa exited the Kingdom, Eclipsa grabbed her hair in disbelief. "How did you know that would work? The moment he told me he wouldn't settle with 'simple pleasures', I immediately brushed aside the thought of offering our crops for trade."

"Well I've met the Johansens before when Star brought me over for a family reunion. And trust me, they're the most corn-obsessed people on this planet. And since Moon and River no longer ruled the Butterfly Kingdom after it was destroyed by Toffee and you took over, the shipment and trades stopped. So I figured that they missed their corn." Eclipsa sighed and smoothed her hair over, she was so glad that all of the negotiations with the other Kingdoms are over. Save for the Underworld, they'll do that at a later date. Eclipsa smiled and looked over to Marco.

"Oh Marco this calls for a celebration! We're one step closer to our goal, and it's all thanks to our efforts. What do you say we go out and treat ourselves to something good?"

"Sure! Sounds great. But where though?"

"Oh, I'll let you decide. I mean I still feel the need to repay you, so let this be my way of saying thank you by letting you choose where we can spend the rest day to celebrate." Eclipsa took off her hat and eagerly awaited his response.

Marco thought long and hard. It's been a while since he went out just for fun. He'd been to many places before, the arcade, the mall, restaurants, movie theaters, taverns, tournaments, races, stuff on Earth and in Dimension X-103. But on Mewni he-

He stops. Dimension X-103. An idea quickly pops into his head.

Eclipsa's been staring at him for a good minute now, waiting for what he could come up with, and if she was being honest, she was starting to get bored. The moment his face lit up, so did hers. So he knew where to go now? She asked herself.

Marco took out his dimensional scissors, and ripped open a portal. He faced Eclipsa and gestured to the portal while he bowed. This was a good time as any other to put in a bit of comedy after such a tense day. "Shall we, my Queen?", he spoke once more with the fake posh accent and Eclipsa giggled and bowed as well. "Let's go." She responded while pretending to fix her posture and held her chin up high, they both laughed at this and entered the portal together.

Eclipsa then realized something was wrong. When she walked into the portal next to Marco, she came back out the other side next to a total stranger. But once she took in this stranger's appearance, her knees threatened to give in underneath her.

"Welcome to Dimension X-103, Queen." His deep and matured voice announced, and she felt her legs turn to jelly.

"Oh my."

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Hello once again, my fellow Marclipsa fans! Sorry it took a while to update, but here it is! The 4th Chapter of the Red Hooded Queen. Also friendly reminder, don't spoil Avengers: Endgame! :D**

**RtR:**

**To allen Vth - I tried, but I couldn't find the easter egg myself. But enjoy the accidental easter egg anywaaaay! My subconscious self must've slipped it in since I do enjoy your story. As for the flirting, well... all I can say is trust me, I got the whole story planned out hehehe you're all along on this ride to find out what happens to the story with meeee.**

**To unnamed Guest - Rare and Fabled? There are literally four Marclipsa fanfictions in existence, and one of them is in Spanish. So right you are, dear unnamed Guest! And your prayers have been answered, I will be producing more chapters, I'm determined to finish this story in hopes of inspiring others to create their own artwork for this ship. Marclipsa fans UNITE! Thank you for reading! Stay tuned!**

**To AchingHeart2011 - Soon, my dear reader. Soon. **

**To The Book of Eli - Heyyy I see you around on plenty of SVTFOE fanfics, welcome to mine! I'm glad I got you interested in the story, keep reading and stay tuned!**


	5. Timeless Quarters

To say "absolutely stunning" was an understatement. No, Marco Diaz was simply the epitome of masculinity right at this very moment. Well, for Eclipsa Butterfly anyway. She had never thought that she'd see the day Marco Diaz would be sporting this kind of body. So sculpted, so well formed, it was a body befitting a deity. It was simply a body that was too good for mortal eyes. She couldn't bring herself to look away.

"Uh, Eclipsa? We're here?"

Eclipsa snapped out of her trance, shaking her head a bit to get back to reality. "Yes, dear? You were saying something?"

"We're here. In Dimension X-103." Eclipsa realized that the boys eyes were way up, so she tore her own eyes away from his body to look him in the face. But it was just as good to look at. A stubble graced his well defined jaw. Eclipsa cleared her throat.

"Ah yes of course I heard you." Eclipsa spoke with a smile, and Marco placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Just then, the roar of an engine and a dragon were heard, and Nachos descended and landed in front of the knight and the monarch. Marco rubbed the dragon cycle's head and got on.

"I know this great place with a cool view and the best food and drinks, get on and I'll take you there." Marco revved the engine once, and Eclipsa timidly walked towards the cycle and sat sideways on his vehicle with both of her legs on one side. She held on to Marco's midsection and was met with a sculpted and hardened abdomen instead of the feeling of fabric from his hoodie like last time.

"Alright, we good to go? I'd say 'seat belts on', but we don't do that here." She blinked, still not accustomed to his deep voice and mature tone. She kept her expression blank despite the red showing on her cheeks and said "I'm good, you can start driving now."

The vehicle roared and they went on their way.

* * *

This dimension had its own sights to behold to newcomers, and Eclipsa marveled at every single one of them. Her fascination was growing by the second and so was her smile as she took everything in, she also took note that the sun was almost by the edge of the horizon, signaling that a sunset was about to begin.

The dragon cycle began its descent upon a mountain where a two storey building was situated. Marco parked, and Eclipsa got off to take a good look at the place they were at. It was a decent looking tavern, it looked more modern than the architecture they had previously flied over with concrete walls, purple stained glass, large wooden doors, there were marble tables and cushion-covered metal chairs all around the place, as well as on the balcony of the second floor that seemed to go around the building. Eclipsa read the label of the place.

"Timeless Quarters."

"Yup. Best place around. This used to be my go-to back when I was chasing Heckapoo around. Come on, let's head on in!"

Marco and Eclipsa started walking towards the building, with the latter doing her hardest not to stare at the boy, now turned man, next to her. She kept her hands clasped together in front of her while she followed close.

Once they entered, Eclipsa took note of the inhabitants of the bar, they all were of different species. All just mingling and talking among themselves, she half-expected the place to be full of thugs or full of shady looking people, but everyone here looked casual. Though she kept her guard up, she didn't know what to expect from this dimension since she'd never been here before.

"Giovanni! Long time no see, brother!" Marco greeted the bartender with a huge grin and a wave, the bartender who was wiping glasses looked confused.

"Giovanni? Oh you must be referring to my great grandfather, I'm Giofanni." The bartender, now known as Giofanni, extended his hand to shake Marco's. Marco's eyes widened as he remembered about the time difference here and in other dimensions.

"O-oh. Right. Well, me and your great grandfather used to be good friends. Anyways, you still serve the Everdrink here, right?" Marco offered for Eclipsa to take a seat on the bar stool, she took it and Marco seated himself next to her.

"The blend from Jaspazhtan? Or from Nukemin?" The bartender asked Marco, and he rubbed his stubbled chin.

"Nukemin started making their own Everdrink too now? Ah well, I'll stick with the one from Jaspazhtan, thank you."

"Alright, how many you want to order, sir?"

Marco looked over to Eclipsa, he scratched the back of his head. "Right, I forgot. You've never had the Everdrink before."

"Oooh, the name definitely catches my interest. What's an 'everdrink'?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. It's basically a drink that reads your mind. And it's a little rough for first-timers- Wait have you even drank liquor before?"

"Liquor? Oh dear, I'm an adult. Put two and two and you'll know the answer to that."

"I'm asking because I've never really gotten to know the liquor they served in Mewni. There are TONS of options on Earth though. But I'm not sure if Mewni has any."

"Oh we do have liquor on Mewni, but I've only ever tried ale. Y'know, being medieval and all. So there aren't a ton of options like you do in your dimension."

"Alright, then I'll order one glass of the Everdrink for you, some potato chips and fries, and maybe a few cups of ale. Sound good?" Eclipsa nodded.

"Sure, dear. Whatever you want. I'll pay for it." Marco tilted his head in confusion.

"Pay... with what?"

The two of them sat in silence. The realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"...corn?" Eclipsa answered meekly.

Marco snorted, Eclipsa blushed in embarrassment and looked down. "You don't have any money, don't you." Marco asked.

"I do have some jewelry and gold pieces here though, do they take that here?" Eclipsa shyly asks.

"They use a different form of currency here. Ah don't worry about it, Queen. I got you covered. Years and years of loot has me filthy stinking rich in this dimension." Marco took out his brown pouch and jingled it with what sounds like a mixture of metals and gems.

"Oh... alright then. Thank you, Marco. It's supposed to be me treating you though." Marco opened the pouch and peeked inside to see if he had the right amount, he then gave it to the bartender.

"It's not a big deal, don't worry. This is a celebration for both of us. And you don't owe me anything, let's make that clear." Marco dismissed her worries with a wave of his hand and before Eclipsa could contest, their drinks arrived on a tray, and Marco took it.

"Follow me, we've got a much better view upstairs."

"View of what?"

Marco simply gestured for her to follow with a confident smile on his face, and she did as she was asked without being told twice. They went up the stairs then exited the door that led to the balcony. They were now on the other side of the building's entrance and they were graced with a full view of the planet's sunset.

"Incredible." Eclipsa said with eyes wide, the sunset were a good blend of purple, blue, and green. It was an odd color combination, but it worked so well somehow. Marco tapped her shoulder to catch her attention and pulled a chair for her. She gave him a small bow of gratitude and took her seat, Marco followed suit by seating himself next to her.

Marco sighed, he could finally relax after three days of nothing but constant travel to get from kingdom to kingdom. Eclipsa leaned back in her chair and took a cup of ale and drank it like her father and mother showed her. With vigor and passion. Marco almost choked on his own drink just watching her do it.

"Woah woah hey, Eclipsa slow down. No one's going to steal the ale. Geez." Marco chuckled with a confused look, and Eclipsa laughed.

"Sorry, dear. That's how mother and father drank when we had celebrations. I find it more enjoyable that way." Marco shrugged. "Then I guess I'll try it your way."

Marco took a cup of ale and drank it the way she did, opening up real wide and downing the drink impressively, Eclipsa applauded. "Truly admirable, Marco. That's how it's done!" They both shared a laugh once Marco finished with his cup of ale, and they sighed. Looking at the sunset.

"You know, the last time I ever sat down to watch a sunset was 300 years ago."

"That long, huh." Marco took his Everdrink and drank it.

"It feels like it was just last month though. Y'know with being frozen in a crystal and everything." She chuckled, and took her glass of Everdrink. She looked down on it and swirled it around in the little glass, trying to catch a whiff of it to check if it smelled good.

"Say, what did you mean by this drink reading my mind?" Marco looked over to her after calling the waiter.

"The drink reads your mind because once you drink it, it tastes like anything you want it to."

"Wh- really?"

"You've never heard of a drink like that before?"

"Marco I've never even BEEN here before, that sounds amazing!"

Eclipsa closed her eyes and thought of a flavor. Chocolates, of course. And she downed her glass.

And just as she expected, the small drink tasted like chocolate. The richest quality of chocolate that she could ever think of or remember eating in the past. Her eyes widened and she looked over to Marco, who was watching her intently to see her reaction. He smiled when she smiled. "It tastes like chocolates! Wow this is great! Waiter! Three thousand more glasses please!"

"Woah okay, slow down. Now that you've had a drink, let yourself rest for five minutes." The waiter arrived and Marco only asked for a refill.

"What? Whyyyyy?" Eclipsa groaned, eager to try another glass and think of a different flavor this time, Marco shook his head.

"You're a first timer. Get ready for the after effects." Marco leaned on the table with both arms. Eclipsa looked confused.

"After effects? What do you mean? I feel fine." Eclipsa showed herself in full view to indicate that nothing is wrong, Marco rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Of course you feel fine, give it a minute."

And just then, Eclipsa's insides felt hot, as if she were a furnace. "Oh, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?"

"It's just you. That's what the drink does, because your body begins metabolizing it as soon as the everdrink enters. But your body works so hard in the process that it heats up the way it does since it isn't like regular liquor."

"Ah. It's not that bad actually. I feel all warm, like a fire place is inside of my body."

"Oh. Good! Because I absolutely hated it when I first tried it and told myself I'd never try it again. The heat was unbearable for me that time. I was around 20." Marco looked relieved. Eclipsa smiled with triumph.

"What flavor did YOU think of?"

"Nachos. And it was SO GOOD." Marco raised his fist into the air to honor the memory. Eclipsa giggled as she took another cup of ale once the waiter arrived to refill their drinks and their food. They went back to staring at the sunset as a comfortable silence filled the air between them. But of course, it didn't last long.

"Marco, you know you're full of surprises." Marco turned his head to look at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?" Eclipsa took a swig and then placed the cup on the table. She shrugged with a smile.

"Well, here you are. Showing me another dimension other than Earth, and you really seem to know your way around here."

"That's what sixteen years of this place does to ya."

"You've yet to recount that tale to me, Marco. In fact, you've yet to tell me why you chose to stay in Mewni, or how you even met Star. Your motivations seem to be shrouded in mystery. Care to tell them to yer ole queen over here?"

Marco grabbed a handful of chips and fries and stuffed them in his mouth and took a swig of his own cup of ale. He swallowed it all and said "Alright sit down. This is going to be a long story." Eclipsa clapped her hands as she crossed her legs.

"I'm excited!" She grabbed the container of fries and set it on her lap.

"Alright. So it all began when I was in class..."

Marco began to tell her how he met Star on that faithful day. Her chewing the water fountain, their bad start, and their eventual friendship. Marco explains his interest in Jackie, and Star's feelings that were secretly blossoming for him. Marco told the Queen stories of their adventures, such as the inter-dimensional field trip, freeze day, Star's mewberty, storming Ludo's castle, the Naysaya that grew on his neck, the blood moon ball, including the trial that Heckapoo gave him for his dimensional scissors. He also told Eclipsa the story of Star's confession, and her leaving him on Earth. Then the Battle for Mewni against Toffee, and that weird experience Star had in the magic dimension. Marco proudly told her the story of him punching a hole through Toffee's chest. Then he told her about him breaking off his relationship with Jackie and his move to Mewni, how he became a squire for Sir Lavabo, how Star and Tom became a thing despite his growing feelings for her, their little incident at the photo booth, the severing stone incident, and then ended it with the moment he met Eclipsa as she saved them from getting sucked into the void.

Eclipsa listened to his every word. Eager to take in as much information as she could in an effort to get to know him more. She now learned multiple things about the boy. Such as his obsession with red hoodies, his incident of wearing a helmet to the school's gym shower once, his expertise in Karate, his love for nachos, and his favorite boy band "Love Sentence". But those were just the superficial parts and were simply the tip of the iceberg when it came to this boy.

Based on his stories, she understood that Marco is a kind, responsible, and loving person, comparing this to her personal experiences with him, they checked out. His experiences have hardened his resolve and helped him become the person he is today, and Eclipsa is just proud of him for going through so much and coming a long way from Earth to here.

"And now we're sitting here, looking at the sunset and helping ourselves to some food and drinks. Relaxing after a day of hard work." Eclipsa looked at the man beside her. She feels enlightened. And she loved listening to his stories as much as he loved re-telling them, she took a sip of her ale again and placed it on the table.

"You've come a long way, huh." The Queen said as she stared back to the sunset. It seemed to take a long time, and she was glad it did because she wanted to keep this conversation going.

"Yeah I... guess I have." Marco replies as he looked into his cup of ale and shook it around a bit.

"You and me both, dear." She said. And silence once more joins in on the two of them.

"So you love Star?" Eclipsa broke the silence, and Marco looked up. He shrugged. "Loved Star. But it's gone now. And frankly, it doesn't really bother me one bit."

Eclipsa looked sad now. This is why she was worried about them going to the severing stone. She had even tried to convince the boy that his feelings were worth feeling, but he simply didn't listen. "That's quite a shame, dear. You two would've made such a cute couple."

"Uh, her and Tom make a great couple! I wouldn't want to intrude on that." Marco gave a small smile as he looked back towards the sunset. She sighed.

"I understand. If you really love someone, you'd do anything to make them happy. Even if it means you'll get left out, right dear?"

Marco looked at Eclipsa in silence before giving his reply.

"You're right. But I don't have any feelings for Star. Not anymore, anyway. Thanks to the severing stone. I'm sure that wherever she is, she's probably having fun with Tom right now. And I'm happy for my bestie. That's how it's supposed to be." Eclipsa took another drink of her ale and called for the waiter once more, she looked at Marco and raised a brow.

"Well... do you have any other ladies in mind that you're currently interested in?" Marco was surprised at this question.

"W-what? No, I don't! I'm not into that right now, Queen. Duty to the kingdom first." Eclipsa giggled. "Awwwe, but any lady would looove to have your eyes on them. Seriously, Marco. You're the sweetest and most hard working person in Mewni, with Star being a close second. Any woman would be lucky to have you." Eclipsa nudged him with her elbow. Marco timidly kept his hands on his lap.

"I- I don't know. I don't really think so, Queen."

"Hush now. And stop being so formal with me. Just Eclipsa is fine, alright?" Marco was beginning to notice a slight slur in Eclipsa's words, and he looked at her closely. "Eclipsa, I... think it's time you put down the ale. Your face is starting to get red."

"Oh hush dear, those are just my cheek marks!" Marco rolled his eyes and took the cup of ale from her. "Alright, let's take a break from the ale. I didn't realize you were such a light weight." Eclipsa looked flabbergasted.

"Oy! Who you calling a light weight, Marco Diaz? I can take you on, wand or no!" Marco laughed as he settled the cups of ale on the opposite side of them to keep them from Eclipsa's grasp, she pouted and crossed her arms.

"Right. Sure, let's pretend for a moment that you can take this hulking beast of a man on." Marco crossed his arms, and Eclipsa turned her head away.

"Oh, you humans and your pride. Such simple creatures, you are." Eclipsa said in an exaggerated version of her own accent. And Marco got a chuckle out of this. "Simple creatures, eh? You know, I think you're pretty simple yourself too." Eclipsa looked at him and raised a brow.

"Huh? What ever do you mean, Marco Diaz?" Eclipsa snorted, and Marco started peeling off his vest slowly. "Phew, I think the Everdrink is getting to me again. It sure is getting hot in here." He slyly looked over at Eclipsa, and she was a blushing mess as she simply stared at his body once more. He smirked.

"I suppose we're ALL simple creatures, Eclipsa." She then snapped out of it and resumed pouting. "Not another word from you, Diaz! I have no idea what you're going on about!"

"Sure, and I'm just going to pretend that you weren't drooling all over my body the moment we got here? Come on, not even Star could resist these aaaabs." Eclipsa blushed an even deeper shade than her cheek marks.

"As your Queen, I order you to stay quiet, Marco Diaz!" Eclipsa ordered, and so Marco leaned in closer to her instead. A confident smirk on his face as Eclipsa's blush grew deeper.

They both stared each other in the eyes, Marco smile never fading and Eclipsa's expression was now that of wonder as this was the first time she's ever gotten to see Marco's eyes up close.

"Dear."

"Yes?"

"Your eyes are wonderful... they remind me of my husband's" And with that, Marco's smile began to fade. He decided to lean back and clear his throat. The sun had now set, the sky was now dark with the stars gracing the sky along with the view of multiple galaxies here and there. "Marco, are you alright?" Eclipsa asked with worry since the boy hasn't said anything for the past few minutes, just simply staring at the sky.

"Oh, I'm alright. I was just... taken in by the sky. It looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

"It does, Marco. You're right. But it's a little dark."

"It's dark, but that adds to the overall beauty. Just like you, Eclipsa."

"Me?"

"Yeah. The Queen of Darkness. Like the sky before us, even though it's so dark, it's still beautiful. The darkness is part of the art."

"Are you saying... I'm beautiful, Marco?"

"Well, yeah. You are beautiful. I mean who wouldn't say so? Anyone who says you aren't beautiful is obviously lying to you and to themselves." Eclipsa blushed, and with a sincere smile she says. "Thank you, Marco. You know you're quite the looker yourself!"

Marco chuckled, and he sighs. "Thanks, Eclipsa."

The two simply sat there, looking at the sky and enjoying the sight of the stars, the gentle night breeze, and the peaceful silence that came with it. They both enjoyed this as much as they could, knowing that once they finish here, they'd have to head back to Mewni and resume their duties.

* * *

A portal opens in the hallway of the Monster Castle, and Marco and Eclipsa come through it. Eclipsa was on Marco's back, sleeping. Marco decided to give her a piggyback ride to her room. "Eclipsa, let's not overdo it with the ale next time, alright?"

"Mhm what'e'r you seyyy deer."

Marco rolled his eyes and carried her all the way to her room and placed her down on her bed gently. He looked outside the window, it was still midday. They didn't even take more than 5 seconds in the Neverzone. He sighed as he looked at Eclipsa and slowly took both her gloves off, revealing the inky darkness that covered her hands. He traced his fingers all over it to feel the texture, it felt like a tattoo. He compared the feel of her normal skin and the blackened skin. Just a slight difference, but otherwise not noticeable if you didn't pay that much attention to it, he decided to stop since this was actually pretty creepy. He then took her hat off and placed it on her bedside. He pulled the covers over her and closed the blinds to her window.

"Sleep well, Eclipsa."

"Sleep well to you too, Globby."

Marco simply closes the door and walks away.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Good day, my fellow Marclipsa brethren. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Some more bonding time between the Queen and the Knight. And a bit of a tease here and there. What did you think of this chapter? Please leave a review and share your thoughts with your fellow readers! Thank you!**

**RtR:**

**To gaming-is-served - Ahhh I see you're a man of culture as well.**

**To Princess Luka Vocalzal - I know right? These two are so adorable together, I'm surprised there aren't enough people shipping these twooooo!**

**To allen Vth - Eclipsa's part of the Hot Bod club now, I suppose hehehehe**

**To thewittywhy - Aaaaaaaaaabbbbbsssssssss**

**To CrazyCore-Sama - You ask and I shall deliver! Here you are! Chapter 5 to Red-Hooded Queen! Enjooooy!**


	6. True History

"Open wide, Meteoraaaa"

Three days have passed since that outing the Knight and Queen had in the Neverzone, and inside the kitchen sits Marco, currently spoon feeding the half-monster child some of her favorite corn porridge, despite the hissing in between scoops. Upon his lap was a large, dusty book that was open for him to read. His eyebrows scrunched as his eyes scanned the contents of the chapter of a certain Queen that he knew.

Eclipsa enters the room, donning a red blazer atop of her usual violet dress. "I'm back, Marco! The meeting with the officials of the other Kingdoms went smoothly, thankfully. Said they all agreed with the objectives of the first few months."

"Oh hey Eclipsa! That's good to hear- woah baby, don't chew the spoon too." Marco was distracted by the infant's urge to consume the spoon he was using to feed her with, and Eclipsa simply giggled at the adorable sight before her. "I'm glad you two are getting along well."

"As well as we can get, I guess." Marco was able to pull the spoon away, and the baby hissed in response. Then started clapping her hands.

Eclipsa took the baby in her hands and started rocking her once she saw that they had finished eating, and Marco directed his attention back to the book he was reading. This piqued Eclipsa's interest.

"What are you reading, dear?" Marco looked up from his reading. "Oh, this is the 'History of Mewni'. I've been reading it to get a better grasp of how Mewni came to be as it is today." Eclipsa raised her right brow.

"Interesti-" Marco shuts the book, the dust flying off in a small cloud.

"But it's a load of garbage. It's only written from the Mewman's perspective, and you know what they say: 'History is written by the winners.'" Eclipsa sat down next to him, Meteora already falling asleep as she rocks her.

"Why don't you tell me what really happened? Since you were there and all, I want to know the full truth of Mewni's history from you." Marco continued, and Eclipsa chuckles. "You want to hear it from MY perspective? But I only ever know what happened during my reign. I can't say for certain what happened during my mother's reign, but I'm absolutely sure on what happened in mine."

"Then tell me, since this history book depicts you as such an evil queen for 'abandoning her people and eloping with a monster'."

"Hm, alright dear. But let me just put Meteora in her room since she seems ready for a nap."

* * *

Eclipsa and Marco decided to take their conversation to one of the meeting rooms, Marco had prepared a bowl of buttered popcorn while Eclipsa went to place Meteora down in her crib. The ambience of the large room was perfect for their soon-to-be conversation, there were no guards currently in the room, only outside the door. Eclipsa and Marco sat down on a long table, and the boy took a handful of popcorn and placed it in his mouth.

"Alright, may I start?"

"Yho meyh" Marco said with his mouth full, and Eclipsa chuckled.

"Okay. So..."

Eclipsa took her wand and with a wave and a whisper, the entire room changed its scenery. Marco and Eclipsa now sat within a differently designed meeting room. Marco looked around with awe. "Woah, did we just go back 300 years?"

"It's a projection, Marco. Pretty cool, right?"

"Uh... DUH? It's so cool! So what now?"

"Let me tell you the story of my mother, Solaria Butterfly. Also known as The Monster Carver."

A woman with long, braided, red hair and the sides of her heads shaved, donning a flowing, brown dress walked into the room followed by multiple men clad in formal wear. Marco and Eclipsa stood up as Solaria set herself down on the long table with her men sitting themselves down on the free seats.

"I need updates on their base camp locations."

"My Queen, they've stationed themselves by the foot of the mountain and in between the forest lands. We've got watchmen keeping guard right at the border of their territory and ours, I've ordered them to shoot down any and all who step close to our land."

"Good, what about our soldiers? They holding up well?"

"Our numbers are steadily decreasing, we may have to resort to recruiting commoners."

Solaria grunted and clutched her forehead with her fingers, her face riddled with stress and worry. A man with a sailors hat stood and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"My Queen, may I suggest a meeting with their officials to form a peace treaty? It's clear that if we continue with this war, more casualties will be caused and our numbers will dwindle until we are no longer."

"If it ever comes to that, I'll kill them all myself. I have the wand. I have the power to protect us."

The man beside her tightened his hold on the queen, giving her a look that seemed to insist on his suggestion. Solaria looked into his eyes, she looked away and grunted. "Alright. We'll give it a shot, Alphonse. But if it doesn't work, I'm continuing this war until no more of their kind walk the face of this planet."

Marco seemed to recoil at the venom of Solaria's words, and Eclipsa noticed this. "Ah yes, my mother truly had a colorful vocabulary for her... passion." Marco looked up to her, his face displaying confusion. "It's a little ironic though, isn't it. She absolutely abhorred monsters, but you loved them." Eclipsa smiled. "I loved them in more ways than you could ever know, if you catch my drift." She winked and looked back at her mother, and Marco stared at her for a solid five seconds before realizing what she meant and turning into a blushing mess, he immediately directed his attention back to the scene before them. But Marco noticed something.

"Hey, that guy beside the Queen looks familiar. Who is he?" Marco pointed.

"Alphonse the Worthy, that man is my father, dear." Eclipsa explained, and Marco's eyes widened in realization.

"Really? Star has a portrait of him in her room." Eclipsa turned to him, she was perplexed.

"Wait... what?" Marco simply shrugged.

"I don't know. It's the same guy that told me to go to the blood moon ball." Eclipsa tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in confusion, but the people in the room left. Eclipsa waved her wand and the scenery changed once more. This time to a forest place with tents lining every few feet. Solaria, Alphonse, and a dozen soldiers were nearing the camp, and a monster who donned armor with a spear in his hand became wary of their approach. He signaled for his men to ready themselves, but the Mewmans raised their hands to show that they held no weapons at the moment. The monsters stayed tense.

"Monsters! We have come simply to discuss, we wish not to fight today." Alphonse yelled from a distance, yet the monsters made no movement in response. They kept their guards up.

"Riddle us not with your lies, Mewmans! We know of your true intentions!" The monster general yelled back, tightening his grip on his spear.

"On the contrary, we wish to confer for peace! So please lay down your weapons and let us begin our discussion! We have no ill intentions!" Alphonse responded, and the monsters looked amongst themselves with confusion and wariness in their expressions.

"Do you speak the truth?"

"Yes! So lay down your weapons, and we may begin our discussion in a civil and calm manner!" Alphonse replied once more, and the monsters slowly lowered their weapons, but not their guard.

"Alright. You may approach!" The monsters lowered their weapons, and the Mewmans slowly approached. Then sat down on the floor cross legged to signify that they meant no harm, the monsters looked among themselves and sat down cross legged as well.

"What is it that you wish to discuss, Mewmans?"

Marco and Eclipsa watched the display before them, Mewmans and Monsters sitting down and having a discussion, Solaria was quiet throughout all this as this was Alphonse's idea. But the pair noticed something in the bushes. It was a small monster with a dagger in his hand. He quickly dashed out of the bushes and sped towards the Queen. But a guard quickly spotted him and attacked with a spear. This action drew blood, and the monsters were quickly enraged. Alphonse looked panicked and tried to control his men and to calm the monsters down, but to no avail, they all started fighting. Alphonse withdrew from the battle ordered everyone to retreat. Solaria took her wand and attacked the monsters while her mean retreated to their carriages, and soon after, the Queen followed suite and they were now on the road back to the Butterfly Kingdom. Marco crossed his arms and sighed.

"Then Solaria waged war after that, right?"

"Yes. All over a simple dispute that could've been avoided had everyone been informed."

"Alright, what happens after?"

Eclipsa waved her wand again, and the scenery followed suite. They were now in a dark labyrinth with Solaria holding her wand in front of her to light her path. She donned brown robes tied with a black cloth, and Marco and Eclipsa followed her as she navigated through the labyrinth.

It wasn't long before she stumbled upon two large mahogany doors with ancient markings on them which nobody understood, except maybe for Solaria. She took out a piece of paper from her robe pockets and placed it on the floor after she opened it. Solaria held her wand with both hands and began whispering what seemed to be a spell. With each word spoken, different parts of the markings lit up until all of the markings were lit. Illuminating the dark hallway before them and revealing the inscriptions on the cobblestone walls all around them.

The doors started to open, and Solaria entered it with Marco and Eclipsa following close behind.

Within the room were three walls, each wall had an image at the top, and inscriptions at the bottom. Solaria inspected each one carefully, Marco looked at Eclipsa. "What is she doing?"

"She's reading, dear. I thought that was obvious." Eclipsa laughed, but Marco pointed to her hands. She was motioning her fingers in a way that was never seen before. Two fingers flick up, thumb stretched, circle motion with whole hand then flip hand. Marco was observing it all carefully, and suddenly, the whole place shook, and a light filled the room that Solaria was in.

"Finally. I give my sincerest gratitude to you, Ancient Ones." Solaria spoke with strength in her voice, and the light compressed into a ball. The red-haired woman took out a jar from her robe and captured the light, which she quickly sealed.

She exited the labyrinth, and Eclipsa once again waved her wand.

Now they stood in the training grounds of the knights. Several commoners and knights were all lining up in front of Solaria while she held a large bowl filled with liquid that glowed the same light as the one in the labyrinth. Each person in the grounds held a small bowl, and Solaria poured the glowing liquid inside them all and set it down on a table once she finished.

"Listen up! What you are about to consume is what I call the 'blood of Solaria'. With this, you will all become powerful enough to fight monsters and serve me in my conquest to bring back glory to our beloved Mewni! Once I give my signal, you will all drink from the bowl, and you will all feel the power surging through you!"

The commoners and knights looked only at Solaria, their eyes fierce and ready for what is about to come. Solaria raised her hand in the air, her expression determined. A smirk creeps up her lips and she finally says:

"DRINK!"

All of them drank in unison, and different reactions came from each person. Some dropped their bowls, some clutched their stomachs, some held their heads, some dropped down to the floor.

But once they were past this, everyone started glowing. Their bodies began changing, growing in size, their teeth becoming jagged, their hands began growing claws.

"Rise up, Solarians. Show me your war faces."

They all stood and lined up before Solaria, their eyes as white as the clouds above them, a fire seemed to surround them all, their muscles now as thick as the bodybuilders that Marco saw on TV back in Earth. Their clothes were now ripped due to the transformation, and they were all sneering and breathing heavily.

Solaria smiled. Marco looked at one of the soldiers, her long purple hair and light blue dress was familiar. "Mina Loveberry?" Eclipsa placed a hand on Marco's shoulder. "Yes, dear. My mother created the Solarian Army. She used a triad of ancient spells to transform Mewmans into superpowered soldiers that would help her crush the forces of the Monsters."

Marco observed them all, they were towering over the Queen. But Solaria didn't look intimidated at all. In fact, she was smiling like a madman.

"Let us win this war."

Eclipsa waved her wand to change the scenery, and now the pair stood in what seemed to be Mewni's medical ward. Solaria laid in bed with Alphone seated next to her. Within Solaria's arms were a bundle of cloth that housed an infant no more than a day old. Marco stepped closer to see and noticed the spade cheek marks that the baby had. Marco's heart melted at the spot.

"Awwwe, it's you. Baby Eclipsa." His eyes full of wonder and affection as he tried to reach and caress the baby, but simply phased through the baby. "Oh right, projection. Of course." Marco felt silly, and Eclipsa giggled at the sight.

"My mother and father had me after they had formed an alliance with the Pony Heads and the Underworld and traveled across the seas." Eclipsa explained as she walked over next to Marco. Alphone took baby Eclipsa and held her tenderly. A tear escaped Eclipsa's right eye, and Marco quickly offered her his handkerchief. "Thank you, dear. Nothing quite heartwarming than seeing your own birth." She wiped her eyes, and Marco smiled at the sight.

Eclipsa then regained her composure and waved her wand again, this time the pair stood in a forest where a young Eclipsa was wandering about. Marco was alarmed at the sight of this. "Hey! It's dangerous to walk out alone in the forest like this!" He tried to warn the young Eclipsa, but the projection simply paid him no heed.

"Right, darn I keep forgetting that it's all just a projection." Eclipsa laughed at this, and she looked at her younger self while she trekked through the thick forest scene.

Younger Eclipsa then tripped, and Marco flinched at this. A large figure covered by the shade of the trees approached the child and offered his red clawed hand to her. Young Eclipsa gasped and quickly crawled away in fear. "Oh nonono it's okay, I won't harm you." The figure spoke with a bit of an accent similar to his fathers.

Young Eclipsa curled up against a tree, fearful for her life. The figure stepped out of the shadows and showed himself. He had short white hair combed back and darker red stripes lining his arms. He smiled warmly and knelt down to the girl.

Eclipsa smiled with the same warmth as the monster, Marco simply looked on in silence.

"Hey, my name is Globgor. What's your name?"

Young Eclipsa looked at the monster, her guard stayed up. "My name is Eclipsa. What do you want from me?"

"I... just want to talk. You know I've never talked to a Mewman before. I wanna know what you guys are like."

Eclipsa looked on at the sight, and her eyes became moist, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. "Promise you won't eat me?" Both young and current Eclipsa said in unison, and Globgor laughed. "I promise if you promise not to eat ME." and this got a laugh out of the younger Eclipsa. Globgor sat down next to her, and they began talking.

Eclipsa wiped her eyes, and looked at Marco. He stood silent, just looking on with what seemed to be curiosity, wonder, or maybe indifference. She couldn't know what it was, his face seemed so hard to read at the moment. Eclipsa cleared her throat.

"As you can see, this is when I met Globgor. A very important part of my history. From here on out, we continued to meet in secret, talking about each others culture and lives. As I got older, I realized that I was falling in love with this man. And he was falling in love with me. We did our best to go for peace. He kept the monsters under control, and I tried to keep the knights away from the monster populations by accompanying mother and giving them the wrong information."

Marco placed his hands in his hoodie pockets and watched on as Young Eclipsa slowly got older and older, her hair getting longer and her feminine features becoming more and more prominent. He was astounded by this. The more she grew, the more beautiful she got, and the more he realized how lucky Globgor really was. He sighed.

"Then what happened next?" Marco absentmindedly asked, and Eclipsa waved her wand.

"Mother found us and she thought Globgor was trying to kill me. So she drove him away. A couple years after that, Mother set me up with a prince from the Spiderbite Kingdom. Shastacan." She spoke Shastacan's name with venom as she continued waving her wand. The various scenes of her life playing out before them.

"My mother was slain during a night ambush by one of the monster brigands, and the throne was immediately passed on to me. It wasn't long either before my father Alphonse followed her. And I was set up to be wed to Shastacan as my King." Eclipsa stopped waving her wand and the scene was at what seemed to be a wedding ceremony. Past Eclipsa, donning her graceful white dress and purple blazer, looked bored to death. Leaning her palm on her arm while she sat on her throne seat. She looked on as the Mewmans from the Butterfly Kingdom and Spiderbite Kingdom ate their corn in the hall. Shastacan sat next to Eclipsa, looking quite happy with himself as he waved to the citizens.

Present Eclipsa rolled her eyes, she waved her wand to move the scene.

"I kept meeting up with Globgor in secret despite being married to Shastacan. And it was all fine and dandy until Shastacan asked me to bear his children to continue the bloodline of the Kingdom. I was aghast at his request, that was when I declared my love for Globgor and eloped with my beloved monster husband."

The scene stopped at what seemed to be a mountain whose shape resembled the monster castle.

"Globgor brought me to his home, and the monsters there all welcomed me. My sweet Globby spoke nothing but good words of me, and his monsters all respected the two of us. We lived there in peace and decided to have Meteora. Our sweet pea." She spoke endearingly.

Past Eclipsa and Globgor sat down in a living room with Meteora in her arms. They looked so happy together, and Marco bit his tongue while he kept his expression blank. Feigning curiosity, he nodded. "I see."

The scene was then changed, and Mewman soldiers were storming the Monster Castle along with the Magic High Commission. It was absolute chaos and carnage. The monsters did their best to hold their ground as Globgor tried to escape with his wife and child, but to no avail. He was frozen, and so was Eclipsa as she was trying to protect her child.

The baby was taken, and Rhombulous carried Eclipsa's crystal to his dimension.

Eclipsa made the scene disappear and Marco's expression was that of shock, and they were back in the meeting hall. She dropped down to the ground and wiped desperately at her eyes. Marco placed the bowl of popcorn down on the table and knelt down next to her to rub her back in an attempt to soothe her. He didn't know what to say, and this was the first time he had heard of her real history in person. She's gone through so much.

"After that, Shastacan took my baby and gave her away, replacing her with a stranger's baby named Festivia. I found this out when me and Moon went to the Royal Archives." Eclipsa spoke, stifling her sobbing. Marco slowly came closer and enveloped her in a hug. Eclipsa was surprised, this was the first time Marco hugged her, and it felt warm and tender. It must've been the hoodie. Nevertheless, Eclipsa appreciated this and hugged back, letting her tears fall freely.

"Well, you've got your baby back, right? You've got that going for you, at least."

"Yes, dear. I'm lucky I have Meteora back with me. If only I could finally find a spell that'd free my husband. Then we'd be complete again."

Marco pulled away and held her shoulders, looking her in the eyes he said "You'll get him back, I have faith that you will. Then you'll be truly happy again, I promise I'll do everything in my power to help you get him back." He spoke with sincerity, he didn't know why he felt so strongly about this, but he really was determined to help her, just to see her happy.

"Marco, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"If... if I ever get frozen in a crystal again... promise me you'd protect my baby? I don't care what happens to me, just keep her safe please." Marco looked close to tears as Eclipsa begged, clutching the sleeves of his hoodie as they stared each other in the eyes. It was a sad sight to see the Queen like this, so vulnerable and exposed, but this was her true nature. A loving mother who wants nothing but the best for her baby. Marco sincerely nodded, his expression was one of determination.

"I promise you, Eclipsa. I'll protect her." Eclipsa smiled, tears flowing out of her eyes as she genuinely sobbed out a "thank you" and the two hugged once more, sitting on the floor of the meeting room with the only sounds heard were the Queen's sobbing.

Sadly, it had to come to an end as Marco pulled away from the tender embrace that he was enjoying a bit too much. He offered a hand for the Queen to take and pulled her up, dusting themselves off and wiping their tears away. "Eclipsa, sorry. But I gotta go to Earth. My dad said he wanted to talk about something."

"Oh of course, dear. You may go. Hopefully I was able to enlighten you a bit more on the true history of Mewni, even if it is just from my view."

"Thanks, Eclipsa. I'm just gonna head on to my room now."

"Sure, dear."

Marco turned to walk outside the door, and almost bumped into a maid carrying a kitchen tray covered by a silver round cover, he gave a quick "Sorry" before swerving the other way to head to his room.

* * *

Inside the meeting room, Eclipsa sat on one of the chairs in the meeting room, wiping her tears and fixing herself up. A maid entered the room and approached her.

"My Queen, here's the tea that you ordered."

"Tea? I... didn't order any te-" The maid opened the tray and inside was a cloth, she grabbed it and pushed it against Eclipsa's nose and mouth, dropping the kitchen tray while she did so. Eclipsa struggled and tried to reach for her wand on the table, but was quickly losing consciousness. The last thing she saw was the maid's smiling face with guards rushing in through the door with the same looks on their faces. She couldn't say it well, but the last words she spoke before fainting were "Help me, Marco."

* * *

Marco now stood in his room, preparing his things and was about to scissor to Earth, until he remembered something that he had to tell Eclipsa. So he ran back to the meeting room to ask her, but saw nothing but a kitchen tray and the silver cover on the floor near the chair that Eclipsa had been sitting on.

But the Queen was nowhere to be found. Her wand was on the table with a note on top of it. Panic was slowly filling him as he took the note and read it out loud, his eyes widening.

"Glory to Mewni for Mewmans..."

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! The suspeeense. Sorry for taking a while to update! Got busy with school work, but here it is! The 6th chapter of Red-Hooded Queen, all for you my beloved Marclipsa shippers! Enjoy reading and please leave a review and share your thoughts with me and your fellow readers! **

**RtR:  
**

**To SKYx10 - Thank you! I can't wait to see where it goes too! Keep reading to find out with me!**

**To Mr. Haziq - Hurts bro. Hurts being the second guy. My poor Marco T.T**

**To allen Vth - Interesting theory! I've never heard of it before though, and yes, no Butterfly can resist Adult Marco's abs. Hehehehe**

**To ETiger - Here's the next chapter! Enjoooooy!**

**To Princess Luka Vocalzal - That's a good thought, but I ain't confirming or denying anything hehe**

**To Slimsterr22 - Secreeeet. Read on to find out though! Hehehehhe**

**To thewittywhy - Super adorkable! I agreeee!**

**To dimortum - Trust me, this story is anything but short. I will do my best to provide to all of my fellow Marclipsa shippers such as yourself, keep reading and thank youuuu!**


	7. To The Rescue

Marco ran as fast as he could down the stairs then through multiple hallways. Racking his brain for the fastest route he could pass through and which way to go. But there was something odd that Marco noticed as he ran.

The hallways were empty.

There were usually a dozen guards within the castle, two per hallway or maybe even three. But none were in sight as he turned every corner. But he pushed that thought to the back of his head as he neared his destination.

Marco burst through the door and made a beeline for the crib. One could only imagine the relief the boy felt as he saw the baby safe and sound in her sleeping place, fast asleep as if nothing were happening. He sighed, at least she wasn't gone too.

The sound of footsteps were heard outside the door along with the clank of metal, Marco immediately headed for the door and saw a maid walking towards the end of the hallway.

"Excuse me." Marco called for the maid and she stopped to face him. But her eyes widened and she quickened her pace instead. Marco's brows furrowed.

"Hey. I'm talking to you! I need to ask you something." Marco followed her, but she simply walked even faster to the point that she was jogging. The boy, exasperated, quickened his own pace and grabbed her by the elbow.

"Lady, I need to kno-" The maid whirled around with an object in her hand and Marco barely managed to dodge in time. The maid had dropped the silver tray she was holding which resulted in a loud clang and she was now brandishing a dagger. Marco felt his cheek sting and touched it only to find blood on his fingers.

The maid turned to run, but Marco immediately lunged at her, gritting his teeth in irritation as he realized that this woman must've known where Eclipsa is or at least took part in her disappearance. He grabbed her foot which caused her to trip, but she turned and kicked Marco in the face, to which he responded by grabbing her other leg and pulling her to him. He scrambled on top on her and pinned her down by holding both of her wrists and putting them high above her head.

"Where is Eclipsa?! Who took her?!" Marco yelled but the maid spit in Marco's eyes, this caught him off guard for a bit and the maid took the opportunity to pull her left hand free and punched Marco in the nose. She pushed him off and ran.

Marco, now filled with rage, wiped his eyes clean of spit and pulled out his scissors. Stabbing the floor and cutting open a small portal angrily. He shoved his hand inside and, once he grabbed hold, pulled the maid out of the small portal as he got to his feet, the maid was now yelling for him to let her go and he roughly pushed her against one of the hallway's windows then pushed his left forearm against her neck as his right hand tightly grasped both of her hands.

"Tell me. Who took the Queen?" Marco neared her face to intimidate her with his expression full of nothing but silent rage. The maid struggled but to no avail, an anger-filled Marco was someone she simply could not fight against.

"Y-you'll... never... make me talk." The maid choked out with difficulty as Marco's arm was still pushed against her neck. This frustrated Marco further, he looked around and saw the rope that bundled up the curtains of the window.

The boy swiped at the maid's feet to get her on the ground with her stomach facing the floor and immediately grabbed the rope, Marco crouched down to tie her hands behind her tightly while ignoring her grunts of protest. He grabbed the rope from another window and tied her feet too, dodging the lady's attempts to kick him. He then began dragging her to the throne room while he called Star for help.

* * *

Marco was now casting the All-Seeing Eye and his cheek marks were glowing once more. But as hard as he tried he couldn't find Eclipsa anywhere. He groaned out of frustration. This was impossible, the spell was supposed to see anywhere the caster desired, right?

"They must've placed some kind of protective barrier around where they're keeping Eclipsa. I've seen that kind of magic casted before in the Underworld." Tom noted, and Marco tossed the wand to Star which made it revert back to her wand design.

"So they left the baby alone. Maybe they didn't know that Meteora was there?" Star asked and Marco crossed his arms.

"Maybe. I don't know who could've done this so I don't really know what their intentions are." He looked over to the maid now tied to a chair, her eyes expressing nothing but anger. A crack in the ceiling was shining light down on her which added to the ominous and serious atmosphere. The sight of the maid irritated Marco, he then looked over at the throne chair and saw the few papers lying on top of it then placed his gaze back to Star.

"But she should be fine, right? She knows how to use magic anyway, so-" Marco said hopefully, but was cut off by Star.

"No, Marco. She can't use wandless magic. My mom told me about it."

"So... that's why they left the wand alone? So she wouldn't have a chance to fight back?"

"I guess so?" Star stroked her chin, and Marco placed his hands in his hoodie pocket and bit his lip worriedly.

"Let's start interrogating the maid, dude. I wanna be good cop." Tom said to Marco breaking him out of his trance, and Star nudged him with her elbow. "Tom, let's take this a little more seriously. The Queen is in terrible danger! This isn't the time for some good cop bad cop."

"Awwwe. Alright, let's just interrogate her by pulling her fingernails off one by one-"

"NO!" Marco and Star yelled in unison. Marco was angry, but he really didn't want to do that to some maid either. Tom shrugged. "Guess you do things a little differently up here, huh. Go ahead, do your thing guys."

Marco approached the maid with a menacing look on his face, his fists balled tight. He breathed in deep and exhaled through his nostrils as he pursed his lips and stared down the maid who also stared back at him with nothing but hostility in her eyes.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where is the Queen?"

"And I'm gonna TELL you one more time, you can't make me talk. They're probably already torturing her as we speak." Marco balled his fists tighter. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then headed over to the throne seat to grab the papers. Star and Tom simply looked on to see what Marco would do. They'd never seen the boy this serious and grim before.

Marco went back to the maid with the papers in his hands then dropped them on the maid's lap. The maid looked down at the papers and her eyes widened in what looked to be fear. Marco's expression remain stoic and grim.

"The moment you agreed to this ludicrous mission to abduct the Queen was the moment you failed. Rule of thumb when it comes to carrying out missions like this is to make sure you've got nothing to lose in the event that it fails. This assures that even if you're compromised, the whole operation doesn't get jeopardized. Pathetic. Never in all of my years in the Neverzone have I met someone as amateur and as weak of an asset such as yourself. You've got a son. And you thought we weren't going to look into the personnel records to find that out?"

The maid looked scared now. Marco had been through numerous interrogations back in the Neverzone, with different times of him being the interrogator and different times of him being interrogated. He knows exactly how these things play out and how to control the flow to his advantage and this was way too much of a cakewalk for the boy. Star and Tom now had their jaws dropped with eyes wide and were as silent as the hallways of the castle. Marco leaned down to be face to face with the maid, making sure that she could see the anger in his eyes.

"You don't know me. So you don't know what kind of things I could possibly do to your boy. But I'll give you a hint: I've spent 16 years in a dimension that doesn't know the meaning of mercy or peace. So hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea on what I could possibly-"

"Please. Don't do anything to my boy. I only did this to earn the money to feed us. Please I beg of you."

Marco's expression remained stoic, his Neverzone experiences kicking in.

"Then allow me to ask you again, and hopefully you give me the answer this time," Marco got down on one knee, and with all seriousness in his voice he asked:

"Where. Is. My. Queen."

* * *

Pure darkness was all Eclipsa could see once she woke up. She could hear the rustling of chairs, the pitter patter of feet, and the murmurs of people all in front of her. A robed figure then approached Eclipsa, then took her blindfold off. A light was shining in her eyes, so she closed them and slowly re opened them to see where she was.

She was atop of a stage in front of what seemed to be a crowd of brown-hooded figures. There were all looking at her with resentment, and she tried to move her hands but realized that she was tied to a chair. The Queen looked around to find her wand but was dismayed when she realized that it wasn't anywhere near. The robed figure beside her was joined by someone shorter. She looked at them and tried her hardest to make out their faces despite the shadows being cast over their features due to the hoods.

"Where am I? What do you lot want from me?"

"We... are the Cleansers. We have gathered to keep the integrity of the Butterfly Kingdom clean and free of monster filth, as well as free from monster supporters like you!" The tall hooded figure spoke.

"What? You can't do this! And monsters aren't filth! How could you say that?" Eclipsa retorted, and the smaller figure spoke.

"We can read, Eclipsa. We know what we read in those history books. You abandoning your people, your Mewman eating husband, the crimes of the Monsters against our people for centuries. Monsters and Mewmans cannot co-exist, because we Mewmans are superior, and they do nothing but lay filth on our lands and ruin everything!" The smaller hooded figure sounded like a female, and her nose sounded stuffed.

Eclipsa then recalled Marco's words about the history books. "But the history books are garbage! They're written by the winners! They're exaggerated and twisted! None of you know the real story!"

"But let's face it, Eclipsa, neither do you. So don't start being all mighty and righteous now." The taller hooded figure spoke, and Eclipsa sat silent. She tried to activate her magic without her wand but no matter how hard she tried, nothing came.

"My people! Today you will all witness the brutality and punishment that the Queen of Monsters deserve!" The crowd cheered at the words of the taller hooded figure, and they finally took their hoods off.

Rasticore and Babs. The leaders of the Cleansers. Rasticore's appearance now beginning to look more and more like his original form, Babs didn't look so sick anymore, and she held a deadly glare towards the Queen. Eclipsa simply glared back whilst saying nothing more.

Rasticore waved towards the men backstage and they pushed in a cart with weapons atop of it. Torture tools, Eclipsa noted. She swallowed but kept her expression firm and strong.

"Alright, which one are we using today?"

"I don't know, all of them look good."

"Ras, come on. Pick one."

"This plank looks good."

"The plank? Really? The whip is obviously the better option."

"And who made YOU the boss?"

The two continued to bicker about which weapon to pick right in front of Eclipsa while the crowd continued to murmur among themselves. Eclipsa bit her lip, hoping with all her might that her baby was safe and that Marco was on his way to save her. She looked towards the crowd. There must've been a couple hundred people in here, maybe three hundred. She knew that people disliked her, but she wasn't aware that there were this many people that agreed upon the idea of ousting her due to their radical ideals. She now felt disillusioned about her people, she thought that they weren't that bad, but she now realized that they would go to these lengths just to get rid of her.

"Babs! I'm telling you, the plank is good!" Rasticore flailed his arms to express his frustration, but accidentally smacked Eclipsa in the face. The crowd gasped.

"Oh, sorry I- wait." Rasticore looked at his hands. He smirked.

"You know what, Babs. Ditch the weapons. Let's do this manually. Better to get some hands on experience, am I right?"

"Shut up, Ras" Babs took the whip as Rasticore cracked his knuckles.

Rasticore pulled his fist back and struck Eclipsa right across the face. Eclipsa spat on the floor next to her and glared at the septarian.

"Is that all you've got? My daughter can hit harder than you."

Babs whipped Eclipsa and struck her leg, this resulted in a yell from Eclipsa and it made her grit her teeth. She then glared at Rasticore. "Why are YOU in on this? Aren't you a monster too?"

Rasticore simply laughed maniacally. "You must be blind. We Septarians are above and beyond measly monsters in terms of intelligence, strength, and class. We're superior. So don't lump me in with those mud-bathing weirdos. Plus, I've got beef with you, since it was YOUR spell that got rid of MY boss." He then struck her across the face with a back hand slap.

Just then, the door to the hall was broken down and a guard now lay on the debris of what used to be the door. Marco, Star, and Tom rushed in with a full squad of knights.

"WHERE IS ECLIPSA?" Star demanded, and the robed figures all stood up and brandished their weapons. Maces, flails, swords, metal pipes, and all other blunt objects that could classify as a weapon was present in this room.

Marco looked over at the stage, then became enraged at what he saw.

Eclipsa was tied to a chair, she was sporting bruises on her face and Rasticore and Babs were standing in front of her. The boy tightened his fists and executed a war cry. Everyone started charging at one another.

Star took out the robed men with ease, rainbow fist punch here, narwhal blast there, cupcake blast over there. Tom simply showered them with fireballs, setting most of the place on fire. Marco tore through the forces with his bare fists, fueled by nothing but rage and frustration. Mostly towards himself for even allowing this to happen at the first place, and towards the people of this kingdom for being such a bunch of close-minded idealists.

One of them managed to get him with a wooden plank, and a lot of them quickly grouped up on him and drove him to the ground. Each hit he took made him angrier and angrier. So he took the wand out of his hoodie pocket and pointed it upwards. "Get off me!" He yelled, and a purple blast shot out of the wand and scattered the men grouping up on him. He quickly got up and pointed the wand towards the path that led him to Eclipsa, then he yelled.

"RAINBOW FIST PUNCH!" Marco felt silly yelling out loud one of Star's spells, but lo and behold, a giant fist exited the wand and paved the way towards the Queen. He ran and dodged the weapons and projectiles flying towards him. And he jumped up on the stage where Rasticore and Babs blocked his path.

"So you two were leading this movement? You despicable pair of criminals!"

"Of course it was us. We only acted blatant and obvious to give you the impression that we didn't know how to do our jobs. I mean, who's going to suspect the idiots right?"

"You now you're STILL idiots, right? Your hideout location is incredibly obvious. Seriously? Under the Assassins Guild?" Marco exclaimed, and before they could retort, Marco fired a spell that knocked Babs back towards the wall leaving a dent. Rasticore charged at Marco and swung, clocking Marco right at the jaw. Marco whipped his head back and kicked the lizard's knee, causing him to grunt. Marco followed up immediately with a punch to the lizard's gut that actually knocked the air out of Rasticore's lungs. He wasn't expecting this mere human to actually harm him this much.

"You know. I punched a hole through your boss once. Imagine how easy that would be to do to one of his lackeys." Marco spat to the lizard, and Rasticore roared and picked Marco up, then threw him towards the wall right behind Eclipsa. The Queen gasped, and shuffled the chair around to face him. "Marco! Are you alright?" Concern and panic laced her voice.

The boy quickly scrambled to get back up and charged towards the lizard, and Rasticore prepared himself.

Marco jumped and hit the lizard square in the jaw, Rasticore shot a jab at Marco, but the boy swerved to the side then served an uppercut and hit the lizard in the stomach followed by a jab to the same spot, earning him a growl. Rasticore swung with a hook and hit Marco right in the jaw but he gritted his teeth through it and kicked the lizard in the chest to knock him back.

The two kept exchanging blows, clearly matching each others skill in combat. Marco clocked Rasticore in the jaw with an uppercut which made the lizard stagger back, he simply spat out one of his fangs and cracked his neck. "Listen, kid. I've been alive for centuries. We Septarians are immortal and invincible. My skills far surpass your-" Marco tackled him and placed his foot behind Rasticore's legs to trip him and bring them to the ground with Marco on top.

"I don't know if you've learned this in your centuries of living, but there's not usually this much talking when you're in a fight." Marco then rained down punch after punch on Rasticore's face while the latter covered his head up in an attempt to defend himself.

Eclipsa did her best to free herself from the chains that bound her to the chair while she watched the fighting go on. She couldn't stand to see the people she cared about get hurt trying to save her, she had to do something. She quickly looked around looking for a way to free herself, then saw the wand simply laying down by the wall where Rasticore last threw Marco. She looked back at Marco and saw Babs, now awake, running towards Marco whose back was faced to her. She whipped Marco, which distracted him enough for Rasticore to punch Marco in the face and pushed the boy off of him.

Rasticore tore off his robes, revealing his muscled body and putting his hands up in a boxers stance. "Come on, kid. Let's keep this going." Marco gripped his hoodie, now ripped and damaged, and tore it off of him. Leaving him in his white shirt riddled with holes and tears. "Two on one? Piece of cake, Rasticore." He also put his hands up in a boxers stance and glared at the lizard.

Rasticore charged at Marco, then jumped out of the way then ran towards Babs. She attempted to pull the whip back to strike him again, but he picked her up and threw her towards Rasticore who was in the middle of charging towards Marco.

"Marco! Use this!" Eclipsa kicked the wand towards Marco and it slid to him. He picked it up and prepared himself as he pointed it to the pair.

"Narwhal Blast!" Marco chanted, and a torrent of large muscled narwhals with long horns shot out of the wand and struck Rasticore and Babs with force enough to knock them out.

Marco then ran towards Eclipsa and turned her around. "Don't worry, I got you." Marco held the chains in his hands and ripped them apart with his bare hands with a growl of anger to match it. Star and the knights were impressed at this. Tom smirked. "You know, he's done that before. When we had a fight at our carriage and my door was locked with chains. He busted it open like it was nothing." Star looked at Tom in disbelief, he simply shrugged.

Marco hugs Eclipsa tightly which surprised the queen. "Oh, you missed me that much?" She says with a joking tone and hugs him back, and Marco blushed.

"I... I was just super worried." Marco said as he pulled away immediately upon realizing what he was doing, then Eclipsa placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Dear, hugs are good and all. But we still have a battalion of 'Cleansers', as they called themselves, to take care of." She said, pointing at the army that Star, Tom, and the knights were still fighting against.

"Here, give me the wand." Eclipsa asked, and Marco placed the wand back in her hand, which turned it back into a parasol. She raised it high above her head, closing her eyes, she focused.

Then she opened her eyes which now glowed white and purple, she whispered the words "Slumberos massus instantio", and every robed figure had their head surrounded in a purple mist which caused them all to drop to the floor in an instant, motionless.

"Did.. DID YOU JUST KILL THEM?!" Tom exclaimed, and Eclipsa giggled. "No, silly. I made them all go to sleep. Don't worry."

* * *

More knights arrived and then went to work with tying them all up with rope and making sure to get every single one. They all committed treason towards the queen and thus, justice was rightfully served.

Marco hugs Eclipsa again, and she hugs back. "Well aren't you extra clingy today?", Marco blushed but was happy she couldn't see it. "I'm just glad you're safe. That's all. This is how I celebrate, don't judge." Marco blurted out, and Eclipsa tightened the hug. "You kept your promise, right? Is Meteora safe?"

Marco pulled away and nodded as he looked her in the eyes with reassurance, "Yes. She's safe in the castle, I told Janna to keep watch over her." Eclipsa sighed in relief. "Thank you, Marco." She smiled, then Star and Tom approached them.

"So, glad all of THAT is over. Boy this was a crazy day." Star explained, and Tom placed his arm over her shoulders. "I'm just glad Queen Eclipsa here is safe. So let's get going?" Tom suggested, and they all agreed. But Pony Head entered the scene with Seahorse right behind her.

"Giiiirl what is all this bizniz? What kind of drama went down here?"

"Oh, Eclipsa was abducted by cultists. But we dealt with it." Star explained, and Pony Head clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "Urgh those darned cultists. I was supposed to abduct Eclipsa for my 'Ponyhead Shooow!' but now my plans are ruiiined. Grrr, Seahorse! Babe! Pack it up, we're out of here." Pony exasperatedly commanded. "Y-yes my love." Seahorse replied, and they stormed off without another word.

The four of them could only look among themselves and shrug.

* * *

**Authors Note: Look alive, my fellow Marclipsa shippers! Here is the 7th Chapter of Red-Hooded Queen. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Was the action in this chapter exciting? Did it get you on the edge of your seat? Or was it lackluster? Share your thoughts, opinions, and tips in the Reviews section of the story! Thank you!**

**RtR:**

**To Mr. Haziq - Now you know why they left the wand. Hehe**

**To Shadow Knight Destroyer - Sorry I'm bad at guessing. Is it Dr. Marco Pretty Handsome Dude?**

**To SKYx10 - THIS is what he does to try and find the queen. Hehehe keep reading!**

**To Princess Luke Vocalzal - You can see my little shout out to the Queennapped episode in the story if you read through til the end hehe**

**To allen Vth - Rescue Queen Time? Success! And yes, my boy Marco is realizing things. Albeit rather slowly, but it's happening**

**To ChinRa - IKR? POOR MARCOOOOO**


	8. Training

A gentle breeze passes by the two warriors as they stood facing each other, their hands up in a defensive stance and carefully waiting for the other to make a move. The two of them knew that whoever made the first move loses, in theory anyway. But at this very moment, they were about to find out if that were really the case.

Marco took a deep breath, then exhaled. His eyes set upon the woman in front of him holding the same stance that he was and observed her features, her eyes as sharp as a tiger's, her guard as well positioned as an armadillo's shell, her feet as balanced and graceful as a cat's. It was perfect, exactly as he had taught her. Pride filled him as he eyed his opponent, but now was not the time for that, he thought to himself. The praise can wait.

Eclipsa kept her eyes trained on her sensei Marco. Her bare, blackened hands raised up in front of her to defend against any attack that the man in front of her might throw her way. She took a deep breath and remembered everything he had taught her this past month and a half. Since that incident with the Cleansers, this red hooded knight, now turned army general, suggested that she should be taught to fight without a wand in order to keep herself safe regardless of the wand's presence or not. And today, she was going to find out if her training paid off.

Marco's eyes widened as Eclipsa took a step forward with her rear foot and raised her front foot to hit him with a jab kick. Marco defended with his open palm and reflexively backed away, Eclipsa pulled her front foot back and quickly set it down on the ground before going for a punch. Marco dodged to the side and stepped close to try and get her in a lock, but as he reached with both hands towards her head, she quickly ducked and tackled him and got him on the ground.

She now sat above him ready to execute the ground-fighting style that Marco had taught her, she raised her right fist in the air as she kept her left hand in front of his face to defend in case he went for the offensive in this position, and Marco raised his hands.

He simply stared at her. Her teal hair tied up in a ponytail was cascading down the left side of her face, her expression was fierce and focused, with her gray eyes trained on nothing else but her Sensei's face. The karate gi that she donned was a good fit for her, it helped her with her movement and she absolutely looked amazing in it like she does with every other outfit she wears. Marco was astonished at this beauty sitting atop of him right now, ready to assault his face with punches and elbow strikes. He was thankful for the shadow that she cast over his face or else she would've seen the blush that crept up to his face.

"I yield." Marco declared while he observed every little detail about the Queen's face. Everything was perfect, not a single speck of dirt or misalignment about her features. His heart beat faster as he watched her fierce expression mellow down from a serious look to a mischievous, proud, and warm smile.

In the past month and a half, he found out that he was truly and without a doubt,

In love with Eclipsa Butterfly.

The boy didn't know when it happened exactly, he simply doesn't know how to describe it. It was perhaps like a switch that turned on inside of him that made him love her, or maybe one day he simply woke up and suddenly felt love for Eclipsa rather than simple loyalty and dedication, or maybe he simply felt that he loved her while he was doing something as mundane as tidying up his bed.

He was unsure of when it started, unsure of how, frankly Marco was a person who was unsure of a lot of things. But one thing he IS sure about is that it's true. And no matter how much he tried to deny it in the past, it's real now and has always been.

The knights who were also training around them cheered at their Queen's victory over the Army General of the Butterfly Kingdom. It seems that she was now ready to fight and defend herself without a wand in the event that she isn't near it and she finds herself in danger. Ever since the abduction incident, Marco had reinstated the Knight and Squire qualifications and the personnel policy of the Kingdom to ensure that no spies or traitors would ever settle themselves in the ranks anymore. It proved effective, with assessments every end of the week adn stricter punishments and sanctions for those who misbehaved or did anything close to treason. Everything was going well in the castle and it was safer than ever before.

Eclipsa outstretched her hand for Marco to take and he gladly took it. She pulled him up with ease and helped dust him off. Eagerly, she looked at Marco and asked.

"So, did I do good?" Marco is aghast at this.

"Do good? Eclipsa you made me yield! That's even better than good!" Eclipsa chuckled and humbly bowed her head.

"Oh, Marco please. Quit spoiling me." Marco laughed.

"Alright alright, but yeah you're doing a great job. I miiight even say that you're almost on level with me." Eclipsa looked up at him and she looked surprised.

"Wow, really?"

"Nah. You still have a long way to go." Marco grinned, and Eclipsa nodded in agreement.

"I suppose so. Well, we better rest up then. We still have your wand training sessions in the afternoon, remember?"

Eclipsa had seen Marco wield the wand in front of her. Though only capable of executing surface level spells such as Star's attack based ones, she wanted to teach Marco the extent of what the wand can do if he knew what he was doing. He revealed to her that he had used her All-Seeing Eye spell before, and she was impressed by this. She didn't realize that humans could actually wield the wand, and because of this she wanted to see what Marco can do with the wand if she taught him as much of what she knew.

"MARCOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A voice yelled from the distance, and Marco looked around for the source but failed to find it. The voice yelled his name for a second time and it seemed to be getting closer, and Marco was getting more and more confused.

"Am I hallucinating? What's happening?"

"MARCOOOOOOOOOOOO-OUGH" Star fell towards Marco and they went tumbling. Once their momentum stopped, Marco groaned. "Hey Star. What's up?" Eclipsa called for the maid.

The former princess gasped, and scrambled to get up as she pulled Marco up with her. "Marco, listen. I know you're busy right now, but I need your help."

"Sure, Star. With what?" Marco dusted himself off.

"There's a conflict over at the forest lands, I don't know how to settle it since no one's listening to a word that I say." Marco tried to guess what kind of conflict was taking place that she couldn't resolve, but then he was curious about something else.

"Well... why didn't you just ask Tom to help you with that?" Star grabbed at her hair in exasperation and grunted.

"I did, but he... ended up joining the argument." Marco was both a little surprised and not at the same time. "Oh." was his only response, and Star raised her hand to summon Cloudy.

"Oh, before you two go, here have some water." Eclipsa took the glasses from the maid and offered it to the two, and they both thanked her before downing their water. "Good luck now, you two! Don't get yourselves in trouble now!"

"We won't!" The two replied in unison, and Star finally summoned Cloudy and the pair got on to fly toward the place where said conflict actually was.

* * *

As the two soared through the air on a pink, sentient cloud with wings. Star couldn't help but stare at the boy beside her, there was something that was bothering her for the past few weeks and she needed his input on it. But her fear held her back from initiating the conversation and the silence started becoming awkward because of it.

Well, for her anyway. The boy seemed content and unfazed by the atmosphere that only she herself felt. So nevertheless, she pressed on.

"So, Marco..." Star began, scratching the back of her head.

"Hmm?" Marco looked at her to listen to what she wanted to say. She looked on to the sights that they passed by as their flight progressed to gather some semblance of courage for this conversation. Has it always been this difficult to talk to your own best friend?

"How're things going in the castle? I saw you and Eclipsa over there training with some.. kah-rah-tey." Star laughed a bit as she decided to go for small talk first, and Marco smiled.

"Yeah, it's awesome. Eclipsa's definitely getting better at defending herself. I wouldn't want a repeat of that time Eclipsa got abducted. You were there, remember?" Marco sat cross legged to get more comfortable.

"Yep. I was there. I still can't over the fact that you broke those chains with your bare hands." Star gave him an impressed look.

"Well, they were rusting. So the job was easier." Marco laughed with humility. And Star smiled, why did it feel like it's been a long time since they sat down and talked like this?

"Uhm... Marco." Her tone changed from a casual one, to a more downcast one. This slight change in her voice worried Marco.

"Yes, Star?" He asked with concern, and Star sighed.

"We're... we're still best friends, right?" Marco was shocked at this.

"What? Of course we are! Why would you ask something like that?" Star hugged her knees to her chest.

"It's just that... ever since Eclipsa's abduction, we haven't had a chance to just hang out and do best friend stuff." Marco combed his hair back with his fingers and sighed. He felt disappointed in himself and shook his head slowly.

"Gosh I'm... I'm really sorry, Star. I didn't realize that we haven't hung out in a long time. It's just that I've been promoted to Army General, and I've got a duty to the advancement and growth of the Butterfly Kingdom. So I have to help Eclipsa around with a lot of things. Oh man if you only knew about our plans, you'd be so excited for the future of Mewni." Marco explained, his tone becoming more and more hopeful as he told her about the possible future of the Kingdom.

"Oh... well, that's good for you Marco!" Star said with genuine happiness for her friend, and Marco smiled once more.

"Yeah, and it IS pretty cool being the Sensei to a bunch of knights." Marco declared, then he placed a hand on the former princess' shoulder. "But I promise you, Star. Once I have free time we can totally hang out!"

"Awwwe, sure Marco. That'd be great. I'll be looking forward to it." Star smiled at her best friend, happy to know that their friendship hadn't disappeared or had been disregarded. Marco smiled back.

"Huuuugs!" Star announced as she lunged forward for a classic hug, and Marco readily returned the gesture with appreciation and started thinking of a day where he would be free and schedule a hang out day with Star.

* * *

It wasn't long before Marco and Star finally landed on a large river with docks on opposite sides. By the riverbank, monsters and mewmans all together in a crowd are gathered and they could be heard arguing from a distance. The two quickly approached the crowd and could make out the heated conversation they were having more clearly.

"And I'm going to tell you this for the last time, stop fishing in our rivers. These lands have belonged to us Mewmans for generations, ain't nobody telling me that just become some new Queen came into power, you monsters can suddenly do whatever you want!" The brown-haired Mewman at the front of the Mewman side of the crowd spoke indignantly, and the Monsters growled and protested.

"Listen, man. We're just trying to make a living here. This is our only source of food and you're here telling us we can't do that? What right do you even have to say things like that to us?" The Monster representative at the front of the crowd spoke with the same indignation, his fists curled.

"Alright both of you shut up! This is a large enough river for ALL of you! Now quit arguing!" Tom spoke, fire was erupting from all around him and both the Mewmans and Monsters backed away but continued arguing regardless.

Marco was listening in on this conversation, waiting for the right moment to come in once he finds out the whole scope of the situation.

"We don't care if the river is large enough, the fishes aren't as bountiful anymore ever since these MONSTERS came here. They probably scared the fishes away!" The Mewman argued.

"We scared the fishes? The fishes can't even tell Mewman from Monster you dolts!" The Monster retaliated.

Marco then came closer to the crowd and noticed their baskets for the fish and realized something upon closer inspection.

"Alright alright, listen!" Marco now interjected, taking both of their baskets with him and placing it at the very middle of the crowd.

"You see whats in these buckets?" Marco asked, and the Mewmans and Monsters peered inside and scratched their heads.

"Fish. Obviously." The Mewman spoke, and Marco nodded.

"Yes, fish. But look closely."

The Mewmans and Monsters then went closer to inspect, but didn't see what the boy was getting at. They all talked among themselves and shrugged. Marco groaned and slapped his palm to his face. Some guy at the back even yelled "It's still fish!"

"Alright look." Marco grabbed a small fish from the bucket and raised it up for everyone to see. "You see this? It's a YOUNG fish. It's far too small. Basically a kid in the fishes' eyes." The boy then threw it back into the water. The Mewmans and Monsters looked at the fish that swam back deep into the water, a little saddened that their catch was being thrown back into the river.

"The reason the river is running out of fish is because you're BOTH fishing the adult fish AND the children fish. You have to wait for the children fish to get bigger and lay eggs before you catch them." Marco grabbed another small fish from the bucket and dropped it back into the river. "So the next time you catch another one of these smaller fishes, just put them back in the water and look for the adult ones. You can't just keep fishing for every single fish, otherwise the river will run out. You all get it?"

"Ohhhhhh." The Mewmans and Monsters both spoke in unison, and they began murmuring among themselves. Star went to Tom to calm him down, and Marco dusted off his hands. "Well, my job here is done." Marco spoke to himself as he watched the Mewmans and Monsters taking their buckets and throwing the smaller fishes back in the river. "And remember. The river is large enough for both Mewmans AND Monsters. Stop bickering and let each other do what they do for a living, just don't forget what I taught you all, alright?"

"Yeah" All the Mewmans and Monsters grumbled in agreement, and Marco nodded with a smile before walking over to Star and Tom who were now just sitting on a log and watching the Mewmans and Monsters go fishing.

"Nice going, Marco! You really patched things up real good here." Star noted with a gleeful tone, and Marco placed his hands in his hoodie pocket. "They just needed to be taught. The problem with Mewmans and Monsters is that they're all misinformed and just don't know any better. That's all they need, some guidance."

"Grrr." Tom grumbled and muttered to himself. Star and Marco laughed over this and tried to calm him down as they all engaged in conversation, sitting down on the log like three good friends.

* * *

Some time has passed since the conflict was resolved, and the trio were now discussing the best possible way to eat corn. With ideas ranging from doing backflips to using ancient magic, the three had discussed numerous methods. But in the midst of their conversation, Marco checked the time and realized that he had been away for too long and that he still had wand practice.

"Oh, guys. I gotta go. I'm late for my wand training with Eclipsa." The conversation then stopped, and Star looked terrified.

"Did you say you're... late?"

"Uhm, yeah why?"

"Ohnononononnononono"

"Uhh Star, what's wrong? I'm kind of panicking here."

"Marco you HAVE to panic. You're LATE! To ECLIPSA'S wand training!"

"Yes I know! But what's the matter?!" Marco frantically asked, and Star grabbed him by the arms and shook him.

"Eclipsa doesn't like tardy people! You are NOT gonna like what she does to people who aren't punctual to things that she scheduled!"

"Ohmygosh!" Marco immediately took out his scissors and opened a portal then threw himself in with no time to lose. The boy unfortunately fell to the floor once he ended up on the other side, he laid there on the ground by the door of the castle and hastily got up and ran upstairs to the balcony of the castle where he and Eclipsa usually trained.

He burst in through the balcony doors and saw Eclipsa sitting there by a table underneath the shade of a large umbrella with her back turned to him, sipping tea and looking over to the sights that lay before them.

"Eclipsa I'm so sorry I'm late! I lost track of time and me and Star and Tom were talking and-"

"Oh, Marco! You're here!" Eclipsa put her tea cup down and got up to greet the boy. She smiled as she stood in front of him and clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Hey, uh... you're not mad at me?"

"Mad? Why would I be?"

"Well, I got here late. And Star told me you didn't like tardy people, so I rushed in here because I thought you'd be mad."

"Oh, don't worry about that Marco. I know you're a busy person, you know with running around and helping me with the kingdom and going out there to handle things. I understand why you'd be late, so no need to worry yourself." Eclipsa placed a hand on his hair and ruffled it up a bit, Marco blushed a bit at this gesture and nodded. Eclipsa leaned in close to his ear. "But you were right about the tardiness. You better not make it a habit to be late or else I'm going to have to punish you." Eclipsa calmly spoke, and Marco's blush got even worse as he took note of the word "punish", and the fact that Eclipsa was so close to him. Her mere presence was enough to send his mind into a crazed nonsensical rampage nowadays and he found it harder and harder to get himself under control. He cleared his throat and looked down to make sure the Queen didn't see his blush, and Eclipsa went to grab her wand.

Marco watched her walk with such grace, her hips swaying, and an air of authority was about her. Everything about her screamed "Queen" and he was absolutely lucky to be serving such a beautiful and talented royal official such as herself. She grabbed the wand and turned around to give it to Marco, and he snapped out of his trance when he realized that it was already in his hands and had already changed its appearance.

"Alright, so let's begin with another one of my spells: Black Velvet Inferno."

* * *

Eclipsa observed the boy wielding the magic wand. She had long since noticed the way his cheek marks glow like moons and found it interesting to see that even humans were able to wield the magic wand like Mewmans could. The boy groaned in frustration as nothing came out of the wand, he let his arms drop to his sides and sighed.

"Sorry, Eclipsa. I guess I can't do this one. Maybe it's too advanced for someone like me?" Eclipsa crossed her arms and stroked her chin.

"Don't beat yourself up, Marco. I mean you've already used the All-Seeing Eye spell. You know how my spells work. Come on, let's try again."

"But what's the point? If I couldn't do it the few other times, I don't think I can do it any time soon."

"Hush now, dear. Don't be so down. The wand responds to your determination as well, you know. So..." Eclipsa then got behind Marco and held his hands, and Marco blushed like mad at the proximity and the fact that Eclipsa was basically hugging the boy from the back. He gulped.

"Clear your mind, take a deep breath, and say the spell... Black Velvet Inferno." The boy did as he was told, then his cheek marks glowed once more.

"Black Velvet Inferno."

A dark violet beam with white butterflies shot out of the wand with immense power which would've made Marco fall back on the ground had Eclipsa not been behind him, though it did make him squeeze closer towards Eclipsa, and despite how warm and cuddly he felt in his current position, he mentally willed the spell to stop firing. The spell ceased and Marco sighed in relief.

"You did it Marco! I'm proud of you!" Eclipsa hugged Marco for real while still standing behind him, and Marco smiled wide. He held her arms in an attempt to hug back and enjoyed the moment. "Thanks Eclipsa. But... why are you teaching me this spell?" The boy then turned around to face Eclipsa.

"It's a failsafe, so to speak. Y'know, in case something goes terribly wrong. Use this spell and keep us all safe." Eclipsa gave him a pat on the back, and Marco looked down on the wand in his hands. What seemed like a thousand scenarios played out in his head as he took the Queen's words to heart, then he gripped the handle and looked up to her with a newfound determination.

"Thank you, Eclipsa."

"Oh it's no problem, dear. But if only we had the spellbook, the amount of spells I could teach you and learn myself would be near limitless!"

"Yeah but... Star lost it when Toffee attacked. She said it was burnt or something?"

"I know, Glossaryck told me about that. But I have something quite impressive to show you."

Eclipsa and Marco headed downstairs towards her office, and she pulled out a jar filled with white bugs to which Marco recoiled a bit in disgust. "Ewww. Bugs."

"Not just any bug, Marco. They're Glossaryck's magic silkworms! They can repair ANYTHING from even the smallest fragment or piece. I showed this to Star a little while ago and asked her if she had a piece of the book of spells left in her possession but she told me she doesn't. But I'm keeping these in the hopes that I could actually find a piece of the book of spells lying around."

"Yeah, that'd be incredibly neat if you did find one." Marco noted, and Eclipsa chuckled.

"Oh dear, I might just end up going inside of Star's mind and see if I can find anything about it. Oooooooo." Eclipsa said with a joking tone and made a silly gesture with her fingers, Marco laughed along with her.

"That's creepy, Eclipsa." Marco says with a small smile, and Eclipsa pays it no mind as she places the bugs back down. "Come now, let's continue your training." Eclipsa smiles and leads him out of the room, leaving the bugs to wriggle around in their glass prison for the rest of the day.

* * *

Star slept soundly, her sleeping mask on her eyes to shield her from any annoying lights that might shine in her face while she slumbered. She turned to get more comfortable and snored a little.

Her door then slowly creaked open and before anyone could notice or realize, a figure stood by her bedside. The mysterious figure's red cheekmarks glowed in the dark as she watched the princess sleep. An innocent smile crept up to her pale face.

* * *

**Authors Note: Marclipsa Shippers! Thank you for reading this far in to the story. Remember to share your thoughts with me and the fellow readers by commenting in the Reviews section! Keep reading and find out what happens next!**

**Also, when is the next Marclipsa week happening? Come now my people, let's make Marclipsa Week 2 a thing! **

**RtR:**

**To ChinRa - Marco already has a muscled body in another dimension, but he defeated Rasticore just fine without one. GO MARCO!**

**To Slimster22 - M for "Marco is awesoMe." Nah just kidding, just watch out for future chapters!**

**To Shadow Knight Destroyer - I did? Well that's very nice of you, despite how little lines she had in the previous chapter. Also did I tell you that your username is cool?**

**To Princess Luka Vocalzal - I can't give any spoileeers, and thank you for continuing to read my story!**

**To allen Vth - Marco is a top tier ninja with these reflexes. Dayum, even I'm impressed. Felt sorry for the maid too. But I gotta admit that I was a little worried that Marco would be too out of character with that chapter, I'm glad to see that it all worked out alright, thanks for reading again!**

**To Mr. Haziq - Hugs are very nice! I agree wholeheartedly!**

**To Gallifrey denizen - Welcome aboard! I'm excited for the next chapter too!**


	9. Day Off

"Eclipsa! You ready?" Marco's voice came from behind the door after two knocks sounded, and the Queen checked her appearance in the mirror once more before finally responding. "Yes dear! I'll be out in a moment." She then walked over to the crib to see her daughter peacefully sleeping while she sucked on her thumb. The sight brought a smile to the Queen's face as she stroked the baby's cheek carefully so as to not wake her.

"Janna's going to be here in a few minutes. You be a good girl when she gets here and when you wake up, alright?" She spoke in a hushed whisper and bent down to kiss the child, then she proceeded to head out the door.

Marco stood there leaning against the wall with his hands in his hoodie pockets, patiently waiting for the Queen. The moment she walked out the door, the boy immediately greeted her with a smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we go?" Eclipsa asked, and Marco nodded. "Sure. Tom and Star are waiting downstairs." And the Queen nodded before they both began their descent to the first floor of the castle.

* * *

The four of them exited the portal and took their first steps in a long while on Earth's soil. Greeted once again by the sight of Echo Creek and its inhabitants who seemed to ignore them just materializing a portal out of nowhere and coming out of it as if it were a normal occurrence, Eclipsa was bewildered at this for a moment before being snapped out of her thoughts by Star.

"So gang, for our 'day off' for the first time in a while, where are we going first?" Tom chuckled a bit at this.

"Since when did you ever say 'gang'?"

"Uh, since I was born? Duh. I say gang all the time, what are you talking about?" Star retorted, and the rest of them just laughed over this. Star followed after before dismissing the previous tangent with a wave of her hand. "Alright alright, but seriously. Where are we going? Any suggestions?" She looked to Marco, since it was he who knew the place best considering that he was raised and grew here. Marco then tapped his chin and racked his head for what would be a good first option to spend their free day on.

"A few things come to mind. The mall, the amusement park, maybe the movies?" Marco listed off, and Eclipsa perked up at the mention of the movies. "Oooh! Let's go for a movie!" The queen suggested with excitement, looking among her companions for their approval, and they all nodded in agreement seeing as it'd be a good start to their day.

* * *

Eclipsa held her popcorn bag and soda cup in her hands as they walked inside the theaters. She then hooked her arm around Marco's since they did that the last time so she wouldn't get lost. This took Marco by surprise of course, but it was a welcome surprise nonetheless. "Oh I'm so ready to see this one! What genre did you say this one was, Marco?" Eclipsa asked the boy while they navigated in the dark, and Marco snapped out of his trance of enjoying the closeness with the Queen. "This one's a horror movie, it's a movie designed to scare people and they watch it for the thrill and the rush. I'm pretty sure you'll like this."

The four of them sat down, setting their food down while they waited for the movie to start. Marco tried to calm his racing heart from how close Eclipsa was just earlier. A tap on his shoulder startled him which made his heart race even more.

"Hey Marco, when you said the movie was made for scaring people, what did you mean?"

"Well, depictions of otherworldly creatures on the big screen. Like ghosts, demons, monsters." Tom heard the mention of demons and looked at Marco, while Eclipsa went sour-faced at the mention of monsters.

"Monsters? What do you mean?" Eclipsa asked with suspicion, and Marco panicked.

"Oh no, I-I don't mean like our monsters on Mewni. It's just that humans have a very interesting way of portraying monsters here on Earth since we don't have monsters here. Lovecraftian horror, creepypasta, gruesome and brutal horror, trust me it's not the discrimination kind of movie. I-if that's what you were wondering." Marco explained quickly, afraid that Eclipsa was offended or even changed the way she looked at humans because of horror movies. "Alright then. I'll see for myself." Eclipsa said, the suspicion in her voice was gone and she now spoke with a casual tone. Marco sighed, glad that she didn't misunderstand it.

The screen began lighting up and the movie finally began.

Marco had read about the movie's reviews and critiques before they entered the cinema. This one was a paranormal type of movie, with ghosts and demons. Hoping that Tom would like this one since the humans' portrayal of demons were very grotesque and wild, he wasn't sure what Eclipsa would think of it though.

As the movie went on, every scary scene shook the whole theater, everyone screamed, jumped up, shrieked. The theater was filled with all kinds of reactions. Marco looked at his seatmates. Star and Tom were... giggling? They found the film funny? Well, everyone has their own interpretation and reaction to the movie so all is well, but when the boy's eyes landed on Eclipsa, she looked mortified. Gripping her soda cup and popcorn bucket, sitting on the edge of her seat with her eyes gripped on the screen. Marco tapped her shoulder, she jumped and gave a yelp in surprise. "Oh, it's just you, Marco."

"Enjoying the movie?" Marco asked, and Eclipsa smiled wide. "Yes! This movie is fun. Humans are so creative with their depictions. It's got me hooked." Marco felt glad that she was enjoying this experience, hoping that she wouldn't get tired of movies because he did enjoy watching these with her. Even if he wouldn't admit that out loud. He and Eclipsa turned their eyes back on the screen, and a jumpscare flashed on the screen the moment they did which made them both shriek and hold on to each other out of fear.

Star and Tom laughed at them, hoping that the other two could realize how funny they sounded and looked. Marco realized how close he was to the Queen and was immediately filled with embarrassment. But he didn't pull away because he was enjoying this. He smiled instead, thanking the darkness of the theater that the Queen couldn't see how much he was liking this closeness.

Eclipsa kept still, her eyes trained on the screen to find out what happens next. The two kept this up until the movie ended, with Eclipsa realizing that she was gripping the boy's hoodie the whole time and felt embarrassed for making the boy so uncomfortable by squishing him in her arms. She apologized, but the boy simply waved it off and told her it was alright.

* * *

The next destination was the amusement park. Now Marco wasn't too sure if they've ever had amusement parks in Mewni, but looking at Eclipsa, she did seem impressed with what she was seeing all around her right now.

Eclipsa tugged on Marco's sleeve and pointed towards the giant swinging boat. "That one looks interesting, what does it do?" Marco's eyes followed where she was pointing and felt his stomach become queasy just looking at it. "That's one of the rides here in the amusement park, people ride it to scare and amuse themselves, which is pretty much the goal of the majority of the rides here. Hence why it's called an amusement park, so people can 'amuse' themselves."

The queen listened to every word as she kept her gaze on the contraption, she could hear the frightened screams of the occupants of every ride all around her, and her heart beat with a childlike excitement. Star stood next to her. "So great-great-great-great not grandma, you wanna try any of these rides? I swear they're suuuper fun!" Eclipsa smiled at Star before looking around at the other rides, then back towards the swinging boat. "I want to try that one first." She said giddily, and the whole group agreed (with a bit of hesitation on Marco's part.) And they walked towards the boat.

Tom and Star bought the tickets for the four of them and waited in line for their turn, Marco was awfully silent throughout the entire wait, which Eclipsa noticed. She looked over to him and noticed his lips pursed in a straight line and his eyes only looking forward. He looks constipated, she thought.

"Dear, are you okay? Do you need to use the bathroom?" Marco was snapped out of his musings, and he looked over at Eclipsa with a hint of fear of nervousness in his expression.

"Oh nah, I'm good. I'm just... excited for the ride! Hehe..." Marco scratched the back of his head and stayed silent after that, and Eclipsa realized that he was terrified of going on this ride. Though she didn't know why.

"Is this about the ride? Are you scared of it?" Eclipsa asked with her voice low to make sure Marco won't be embarrassed, and Marco's eyes widened at that question.

"What? Of course I'm not scared. Psh, rides never scared me. Bad boy Diaz. I'm a grown man in a teenage body. I've been through worse than this." Marco said to reassure her, but it was mostly an attempt to reassure himself because even he wasn't sure of that. He was sweating profusely, and Eclipsa chuckled at his announcement.

"Alright then, Mr. Bad Boy. Our turn's coming up, so let's enjoy the ride." Eclipsa said, and Marco picked up the teasing tone in her voice. He gulped silently.

The person handling the lines called for the next batch, and Star, Tom, and Eclipsa's faces lit up as they excitedly headed to their seats. Eclipsa took Marco's hand when she noticed that he was reluctant to move and smiled at him. "Come on, dear. I don't even know what you're afraid of, but I'm sure it's not as bad as you think." She tried to reassure him, and it worked a bit as his face relaxed a little. He mustered up a nervous smile as he allowed her to drag him to the ride. The boy was also glad she had her back turned to him or else she'd have caught his blush at her holding his hand.

The four of them finally sat themselves down, and the lap bar finally came down. Marco tightly gripped the bar in front of him as he looked all around him. To his right was Eclipsa and a few other strangers, and to his left was Star, Tom, and more strangers. All of which seem excited for this ride. Was he the only one who didn't want to be here? The bell sounded which signaled that the ride was starting.

It started swinging slow at first, and Marco thought to himself that he could handle this. That this was actually pretty alright. But the swings started getting stronger, and they were going higher, and the pull of gravity was getting more and more powerful with every downward swing that Marco was sure the lap bar was bending under his grip, everyone started screaming when the boat started to swing with maximum strength, and Marco instinctively held Eclipsa's arm and hoped that she'd use a spell or something to get out of here, but she was enjoying this.

This was the first time she'd ever done something like this and she was having the time of her life, and the fact that her Army General was screaming like a girl next to her added to her entertainment. She was screaming and laughing with joy as the ride continued on forth, and Marco's grip on her arm was tightening with every swing but she paid it no mind, it was just his way of dealing with the ride and she understood that. So she looked over to him and nudged him with her arm, he looked at her with a petrified look on his face. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" She asked with a loud voice to ensure that the screams all around them didn't drown her voice. "MAKE IT STOP PLEAAAASE" Marco begged with an almost comical look on his face, and Eclipsa laughed. Her right hand let go of the lap bar and went to hold his hand in hers in an attempt to calm him down. "MARCO, IT'S ALRIGHT. YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT. JUST ENJOY THE RIDE!"

"EASIER SAID THAN DONE!" Marco retorted, only for Eclipsa to laugh again. The boy continued looking at her, he noticed that the ride was slowing down, or maybe it was because he was looking at the object of his affections. So he continued looking at her in a desperate attempt to forget that they were on a simulated death trap. Her laugh was infectious and he slowly found himself smiling and laughing with her. The way her hair went along with the motions of the ride was tantalizing, despite it flying into his face every now and then too. Eclipsa noticed him staring, and she flashed him a grin. "You starting to enjoy the ride, dear?" Marco realized that he might've looked really creepy staring at the queen, so he laughed nervously in an effort to play it off. "Just- um... staring over at the side, it- uh... helps with the nausea." Eclipsa then looked over to where Marco was supposedly staring, and then looked back to Marco. "Well, whatever works for you, I suppose." She smiled again, and Marco felt his stomach flutter. Either from the nausea of the ride, or the feelings he kept hidden from this woman next to him.

The ride finally came to a stop, and Marco felt relieved that the ride was over, but also refreshed for some reason. The group exited the ride and decided to sit by a bench to catch their breath for a bit. "That was crazy! I want to go again!" Tom exclaimed, and Star held his hand and pointed over to the roller coaster. "Oh Tom let's go on that one next!", Tom's eyes lit up. "Sure! Come on guys!" The demon teen called over to Eclipsa and Marco, but Marco was still resting on the bench, rubbing his face. "It seems like Marco isn't ready for another one, why don't you two go on ahead? I'll stay with Marco here." Star and Tom agreed before rubbing Marco's back and then heading over to the rides.

Star glanced back one last time at Marco and Eclipsa sitting next to one another, then finally went off to the next ride with Tom.

Eclipsa placed a hand on Marco's shoulder. "You doing alright, dear?" Marco then took his hands off his face and looked at Eclipsa. "Yeah, I'm good. That ride sure was something." Marco chuckled in relief knowing that he isn't on that doom pendulum anymore. Eclipsa leaned back on her chair and let out a happy sigh. "I want to go on more rides." She spoke, and Marco looked at her with a brow raised. "Then why didn't you go with Star and Tom?" The queen looked up to the clear blue sky littered with clouds.

"Well, you won't be with us, so it won't be fun. And I'm pretty sure those two lovebirds wanted some time together, so who am I to ruin that for them?" Eclipsa looked back at Marco and was surprised to see him smirking.

"You just didn't want to end up third wheeling, did you?" Eclipsa tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What does that mean?" And Marco realized that the expression probably doesn't exist on Mewni.

"Oh right. Never mind then. Thanks for staying with me though." Marco gave her a small smile, and she nodded in return. "Not a problem at all. Now anyways, what else is there to do in this place aside from the rides, seeing as you're not exactly the biggest fan of them." The queen stood and looked around, her hands clasped in front of her as she looked around curiously, Marco found this absolutely adorable. So he stood up and pointed towards the ring toss game.

"You got any experience in throwing rings?" Eclipsa looked intrigued. "Care to elaborate?" Marco chuckled a bit and held out his hand. "Alright, follow me."

Eclipsa courteously took his hand and allowed him to lead her to wherever it is he was referring to while Marco was trying not to die of happiness at that very moment just holding Eclipsa's hand.

The pair arrived at the ring toss stall and watched two teens having a go at the game, they shot two rings out of five, and they won a consolation prize for having not shot all five, which was the requirement for getting the prize of one's choosing. Marco took out a few dollars from his wallet and handed it to the stall handler and was handed 10 rings. Five for him and five for Eclipsa.

Marco put himself in a stance, and Eclipsa watched intently. Marco summoned the skills he had gained from his time in the Neverzone and used it to masterfully throw all five rings into the goal, and while Marco thought this was cheating a bit, it wasn't easy getting these skills, therefore he saw it fair. Eclipsa gave him a few claps and a giddy smile. "Alright, my turn."

Eclipsa readied herself, then threw the first ring. It missed its target, her eyebrows creased a bit, then she threw the second one, it almost got on the goal, but missed. So Eclipsa held her wand and whispered something, and shot the remaining rings, all of which went into their goals. She smiled at her victory, this was fun!

Marco snickered as the stall handler went over to the prize booth. "Hey, I saw that. You know it's not fair to use magic, right?" Eclipsa simply giggled at this. "Though I'm beginning to see why it's called an amusement park. Let me have my amusement, will you?" Marco chuckled and nodded his head.

"Alright alright." The stall handler then looked at the both of them and asked Marco what prize he wanted since he shot all five rings. He looked at Eclipsa, then turned to the handler and said "Let her choose. I'll take the consolation prize."

Eclipsa was pleasantly surprised at this. "Are you sure?" She asked, and Marco nodded, then gestured over to the prize booth. She stroked her chin and thought well before choosing, then she settled on this big monster looking plushie with a blue and violet color scheme, it had these sharp teeth designs and horns at the top, its back had spikes going down to its tail. The stall handler gave it to her and she looked it over and then hugged it while Marco was given a chocolate bar.

* * *

The four of them met up by the entrance. Star and Tom had taken their time to try all of the rides, while Marco and Eclipsa had gone on to try all of the game stalls. They all had their fun, Marco's hands were full with the prizes they had won, and Eclipsa held the same monster plushie in her left arm while she ate cotton candy with her right.

"Well, looks like a couple of somebody's enjoyed their time winning games. You two used magic, didn't you?" Star playfully asked as she borrowed the plushie Eclipsa was holding, and Marco and the Queen chuckled at that.

"Eclipsa used a looot of magic on her turns, but I won those games with my skills. Call me game-master, if you may." Marco replied, and the rest of the group laughed at that, the boy laughed along with them.

Their laughter slowed down to a halt, and they all looked among one another with content looks on their faces. Tom was the first one to break the silence "So, you guys ready to go?" And they all agreed. The day was eventful and much fun was had, but the sun was setting and it was time for them all to go home to rest.

* * *

The group was now walking back to the Diaz household to get some dinner before they went back to Mewni since Marco offered to cook for them. Star and Tom were walking ahead of Marco and Eclipsa and the silence between them was comforting, until Marco and Eclipsa began talking about today's events.

It was mostly Eclipsa who spoke while Marco listened to every word, noticing every little detail about the queen as she displayed her enjoyment for the day in such an animated way. Her hands waving about with their gestures, the way her eyebrows would raise and her smile would show, the way her eyes lit up and the way her laugh shook her shoulders gently. It was all hypnotizing, but he still heard every single word. A smile was on his face the whole time and laughing along with her when she did because her laughter was just that contagious.

Star looked back at the both of them, for sure this was an unexpected dynamic. Marco and Eclipsa were getting closer, and truthfully she was glad that they're getting to know each other better. But there was a feeling in her that she couldn't shake, she didn't pay it much attention since she felt that it wasn't such a big thing, but it was due to the way Marco's smile was much brighter and warmer than it usually was. Her staring continued on until Tom announced their arrival with a simple "We're here, guys."

Star and Tom went on inside of the house and were greeted by the Diazes sitting by the living room, but before Marco could go inside, Eclipsa grabbed his arm to get his attention. The boy looked back at her, brows raised with a casual look. "What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you, Marco." She said, hugging her monster plushie in front of her. Marco then closed the door for a bit and leaned on it. "For what?"

"For today! I had a great time, and I wish to give that amusement park a read and hopefully bring it over to Mewni." She said excitedly as she shook all the stuff she was carrying to show her joy and Marco shrugged with a small smile.

"Oh, it's no problem Eclipsa. We've been working hard the past few weeks, and I figured we needed a day off. We need those every now and then y'know." Eclipsa chuckles. "Well, I wish to do this again with you some time."

Marco felt a small sense of joy and excitement wash over him inside, and he tried his best to repress those feelings. "Really?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Eclipsa placed her plushie under her right arm and adjusted all the stuff she was carrying, both her hands were full and she started walking up the stone steps of the house.

"Alright, I promise we'll do this again. Maybe one day with Meteora and Glo-" Eclipsa leans in on the side of Marco's face and kisses his cheek.

"I wanted to give you a 'thank you hug', but I can't with all this stuff I'm carrying. I hope that does fine as a substitute." Marco looked at her, then looked away with his eyes wide. His cheek marks began to glow.

"Oh. Your cheek marks are glowing-"

"Let's head on inside! It's getting late and I gotta go cook us a meal!" Marco interrupted, his voice loud and enthusiastic to mask his embarrassment and pure happiness at what Eclipsa just did, and the Queen giggled as she watched him open the door to let her in before heading to the kitchen in a rush.

"Sure, dear."

* * *

The dinner was pleasant and everyone was reminded of how good Marco is as a chef, and they portalled back to Mewni afterwards. Marco was now carrying all of Eclipsa's trinkets and prizes as they both walked to her room, chatting up a storm. Once they arrived at the royalty's room, he set her stuff down and bid her farewell and retreated to his own quarters.

Eclipsa went to greet Meteora playing in her crib and the baby happily smiled and cooed up to her mama. The queen gave her daughter the monster plushie and watched her excitedly play with it. Looking into the monster plushie's eyes, she then remembers Marco's kindness to her today. She sighs happily and says,

"You're a sweetheart, Marco Diaz."

* * *

**Author's Note: OHMYGOSH CHAPTER 9 IS HEEEERE. And I'm very very very very sorry for uploading super late. But here it is! Summer break finally began for me, and I think I can upload more frequently now. (Well for a month anyway. That's how short my summer break is T.T)**

**I've read your reviews, I've read your private messages, and I just want to say thank you all once more for sticking with this story and getting to this point! I hope you all continue reading. The show is finally over, and the ending kind of crushed me. But that's why we have fanfiction! To write our own endings and change the way things are. We got the power!**

**RtR:  
**

**To Mr. Haziq - Marco already has a sword. *wink wink nudge nudge***

**To Sir Duncan Frost - I had to use google translate. And thank you! You are beautiful as well!**

**To Gallifrey denizen - Thanks! Keep reading!**

**To New Yorktown - Thank you! Your last statement gives me an idea for a future story hehe**

**To Sauce212 - I like your creativity! I'm excited for what I have in store too!**

**To allen Vth - I enjoy it when I see a review from you! Thanks once more!**

**To Jamesbucag - You're awesome! (I hope you get the Keanu Reeves reference)**

**To ReaperJ - Thanks for checking out my story! And yes, duly noted!**

**To Zack000 - I'm just learning as I go hehe. Thanks for checking out my story!**

**To Aegis999 - If I tell you what happens, it won't happen. - Doctor Strange**

**To SonicMax - You ask, I deliver!**

**To lagbr3akz - Now we both only have to wait for HL3! Ahahahahahahha.h..ah.. ...hah.a... where is half life 3, valve?**

**To Guest - The month long wait is over! Here you are!**


	10. Screen

Rubble now sits upon what was previously known as the basement of the Assassins Guild, the establishment had been torn down since it was deemed as an obvious threat to the new Queen of Mewni and will be replaced with a department office instead.

A hooded figure stands above all the rubble, rummaging through the rocks to find anything of use that he could take with him. He grumbled when he found nothing after hours of searching and finally gave up, he then delivered a kick to a nearby rock, shattering it with ease. The figure took off his hood and the diamond exterior of his head shone and illuminated the place a bit. His one-eyed face now looking very disappointed and frustrated as he sat down on a chair that wasn't too broken before mulling over what his plans would be at this point.

"I can't believe those dolts messed up their jobs" Rhombulous exclaimed in anger as he raised his right foot and stomped on the ground, enough for it to leave cracks and rumble the place a bit.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and the diamond head quickly turned around to hit his aggressor. But he stopped mid swing of his fist when he recognized their face.

"Mina? What are you doing here? We thought you were dead!" His gruff voice asked bathed in confusion, and Mina Loveberry in her regular form sat down next to Rhombulous.

"I'm unkillable, Rhomby. I was just laying low and catching my breath. But listen, I got a plan. I need time for it though." She spoke in a low voice, and Rhombulous crossed his snake arms.

"A plan? Man, I really wouldn't trust that coo-coo head of yours with coming up with any plans."

"But you have to, Rhombulous. You've got the resources I need, and we'll both benefit from this."

"How? What do I get for helping you?" Rhombulous raised his only brow suspiciously and Mina stands up on a rock next to her.

"We get to show everyone how horrible that 'Queen' really is. And we get to get rid of her! That's two stones with one bird!" Rhombulous thought long and hard about this, but the idea of ousting the Queen of Darkness really motivated him to take this deal.

"Two stones with one birb... this sounds like a pretty good plan. I'm surprised."

"Don't be, Rhomby. It's high time people recognize my master planning skills. So is it a deal?"

"It's a deal."

Rhombulous and Mina shook hands, err- snake and hand, their sinister smirks mirroring one anothers as they continued to discuss how they were going to enact this plan while sitting in the darkness of the former basement of the Assassins Guild. Despite the Guild's destruction, it seems that plans of assassination, or rather coups, were still being made in it.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since their day off. Eclipsa now walks the halls of the castle with a bounce in her step as she heads to her office. Twirling her wand and humming a tune of a ballad from her time. She also wanted to see what Marco was up to after she retrieved a few files from her workplace, and the thought made her pace a bit faster.

Just then, a black clothed figure dropped down from the ceiling right in front of Eclipsa and delivers a roundhouse kick to her head. The Queen instinctively guards by positioning her arms to block. She then quickly grabs the outstretched leg and kicks the other leg that the clothed figure was using to balance themselves on which made them fall down on the ground. Eclipsa quickly walks back several steps.

The figure quickly gets up and charges at Eclipsa and, once they were in range, started attacking her with punches. All of which Eclipsa barely dodged. She opens her wand and generates a force field in an arc in front of her to halt the assault, but in doing so she blocked her own vision. The attacker quickly goes around the force field and disarms the Queen by slapping the wand away from her hand and kicking the magical artifact away. Eclipsa calls for the guards before ducking to avoid a punch.

The attacker throws another punch and the Queen blocks it before backing up again to put distance between them. She readies herself in a boxing stance and the two began to close the distance and started exchanging blows afterwards. Eclipsa throws a jab, but the attacker leans to the side and throws a hook. She leans backwards to avoid that punch but moves forward again to deliver an uppercut. She was surprised as well to see that it actually hit her opponent, and the uppercut caused the attacker to stumble backwards.

The Queen seized this moment and immediately charged forward to tackle her opponent and send them to the ground. She now sat above her attacker and raised her right fist to deliver a flurry of punches, but the attacker quickly takes off their mask, revealing a ruffled tuft of brown hair and a face with a mole.

"Okay okay I yield!" Marco said in a panic, and Eclipsa lowered her arms with a knowing smirk and relaxed.

"I had a feeling. What was this even for, Marco?" The boy let his arms down limp on the ground and relaxed as well.

"This was your assessment. So I could see if you were ready to fight without a wand."

"Oh. Well... did I do good?"

"You sure did more than good. I mean look at this, you knocked me down on the ground and-" The two then realized the position they were in. Eclipsa was sitting atop of Marco and their proximity was enough to cause the both of them to blush.

Eclipsa quickly got up and held out a hand for Marco to take. "Thank you for the assessment, I suppose. It's a relief to know that I'm physically capable of defending myself to a degree." Marco took her hand and allowed Eclipsa to help hoist him up. They dusted themselves off, but then the guards arrive with weapons in their hands.

"Queen! We heard your call! What seems to be-" The guards stopped when they saw the queen was fine, standing next to Marco who donned black clothing.

"Oh! Right, it turns out Marco was just testing my self-defense. Sorry, everyone! False alarm." She nervously assured them, worried that she had wasted their time. One of the guards spoke.

"It's alright, queen. Just call anytime you need us." The guard then turned around. "Troops! Let us return to our stations!" And with that, they all marched away back to their posts.

Marco turned to Eclipsa. "So, what were your plans today?" Eclipsa then turned to pick up her wand and continue walking to her office, and Marco followed suite.

"I was going to grab a few files from my workplace, then see what you were up to afterwards." She told him, then Marco nodded in acknowledgement.

"You don't have any other plans?" He asked, then the queen looked down and tried to remember if she had anything to do for today.

"Hm... none! I guess I'm free for today!" Eclipsa says with a smile, and Marco's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh cool! Because I was thinking maybe-"

Star rounded a corner and came face to face with the queen and her general, sweat gracing her features along with a tired look. "Eclipsa! You have a status update meeting with the Pigeon Kingdom today! And it's happening in four minutes!" She flailed her arms in the air to emphasize her point.

Eclipsa's look became panicked. "Oh no. That's what I was grabbing the files for! How could I forget?" She started running towards her office, but turned around first to say something.

"Sorry, Marco. I have queen duties to attend to. We'll talk later!" And with that, she turned to run towards her office.

That left Star and Marco, just standing around in the hallways of the Monster Castle.

"I swear, that woman has bad memory." Star noted as she wiped her sweat. She then looked at Marco who looked to be deep in thought.

"Bad memory huh..." He spoke as he rubbed his chin.

"Uh, Marco. Why are you rubbing your chin? Have you always rubbed your chin whenever...?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes and looked at him weirdly.

"It's my thinking face, Star. And I've thought of an idea!" Marco spoke with vigor. And Star looked off to the side. "Oookay?"

Marco reached into his pocket and whipped out his dimensional scissors, he then looks at Star. "I think it's high time Eclipsa gets a smartphone." The boy twirls his scissors around, quite proud of his idea.

"A smartphone? So she can just text the neighboring kingdoms that she's gonna 'BRB LOL'?" Star exasperatedly stated, and Marco rolled his eyes.

"No, Star. Look, I'll explain on the way. Just come with me." Marco ripped open a portal and jumped in, Star shrugs and follows.

* * *

The pair now walked through the air-conditioned mall that was bustling with people as usual. The bright displays of store signs and white tiled floors never changing. Star absentmindedly spoke.

"It's been a while since I've been here. I missed the mall. Me and the girls usually hung out here to go shopping. I missed that too." She sighed as she reminisces the days when everything used to be simple. When there wasn't a kingdom that was on the brink of collapse that she had to take care of, or the thing with Marco and the severing stone. Though she had to admit, that one was still a bit confusing and fuzzy for her. She couldn't quite remember it well. Maybe I can ask Marco, she thought.

But just as she was about to, Marco had already headed off towards the electronics store. She quickly followed. "Marco wait up!"

The two now examined all the wondrous pieces of technology displayed on every shelf, Star was mostly bedazzled by how many thingamajigs there were, and she didn't even know what half of them did. She looked over at Marco, who was already talking to a clerk about a smartphone that he picked out. It was all black and looked more like a flat card. She leaned in closer to inspect it.

"Marco, are you SURE that's a phone?" The boy allowed her to examine it, and he crossed his arms and smirked.

"Oh Star, you clearly don't understand. This right here is a top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, cutting-edge, brand new model. We humans are very innovative and come up with new ways to further advance our technology. Pretty impressive stuff, you know?" The boy looked over his nails while he continued on his proud display of human prowess.

"Yeah yeah, but what does it do? And how is it different from the one you have?" She asked as she continued to examine it, still not grasping how this dark, flat card is impressive in any way.

"Allow me to demonstrate." He took the phone and pressed a button on the side. "This here is the power button, you press it to open the screen." The boy then swiped up and a multitude of tiny logos and photos showed up.

"Marco, this can't be a phone. It has no keypad or other buttons aside from the power key thing." Star narrowed his eyes, still unimpressed.

"Star, the reason it's called a SMART phone is because you can touch the screen and command it by voice." Marco explained, and Star whipped out her mirror.

"I can do that with my mirror too! Watch." Star cleared her throat. "Mirror mirror, call Tom." The device then rang out and responded. "Calling. Tom."

"Hello? Star?" Tom spoke as he picked up on his end. "Hiiii Tom! Marco here was just showing me his lame smartphone thing. Even though it's nothing new that mirrors can't already do." Star spoke, and Tom looked confused.

"Okay, so you called me... to prove a point?" Tom raised a brow, and Star looked panicked. "Oh nononono, of coooourse not! I also wanted to see how you were dooiiiing!" Star then started walking away, distracted by her conversation with Tom. Marco shrugged and decided to ask the clerk for details about the phone.

"I'll have one in black and one in prussian blue, if you have it." Marco asked, and the clerk went to the back to grab the item.

* * *

Star and Marco jumped out of the portal, the latter now holding a paper bag in his left hand. He closed the portal and looked at Star, who was eating takoyaki that she bought from the food court. "Marco these are so good. How have I not tried them before?"

"Well, we haven't had the chance to?" Marco chuckled, in the time that Star spent living on Earth, there were still a multitude of things about his planet that she didn't know or find out about. But she has every chance to do so anyway, he did have scissors after all.

She finished off the last of the takoyaki and wiped her mouth clean with her arm. "Alright well, that was a really cool impromptu hang out with you, Marco. But I gotta go see Tom, we made plans for tonight."

"Okie dokie then, it was nice hanging with you too. Have fun with Tom!" Marco waved and walked away. Happy that he finally had a new phone and was about to give Eclipsa one of her own.

Star waved back and went off her own way too. Happy that she got to spend a bit of time with her best friend, even if it wasn't an action filled adventure like they usually go on.

* * *

Marco knocks on the Queen's office and waited for a response. The door opens, and the stench immediately hits his noise which causes him to step back a bit and hold his nose. "Oh, Marco! I was just about to look for you!" The queen continued wiping away at her hat.

"Eclipsa, is that... pigeon poop? Why does it smell extra bad?"

"I don't think I need to explain that. Anyways, come on in!" Eclipsa stepped aside and allowed the boy to walk in with him still pinching his nose to keep the stench out.

The boy then set the paper bag down on her table while Eclipsa closed the door and went back to her chair. "So, what do you have there? Is it food?"

The boy finally let go of his nose, deciding to endure the stench in order to properly open the box holding the novel technology. Eclipsa clasped her hands in front of her as her eyes lit up with curiosity.

"What could that possibly be?" She asked again, and the boy continued to unpack the box in silence and focus. Careful as to not accidentally drop it. This thing is expensive, he kept in mind.

Once it was out of the box, Marco finally explained. "Alright Eclipsa. Since it's clear that you have a bad habit of forgetting things. I decided to get you, in my opinion, Earth's greatest masterpiece! The smartphone!" He smiled as he gave it to her.

"Oh and be careful, those things break easy if you drop them." He says as he reaches into the paper bag again, "But not to worry! I also bought a case." He takes out a package from the bag and opens it to reveal a case made of a bouncy and violet material, it had a bunny design. He expertly wraps the case around the new phone and decided to give her a quick crash course on how to use it.

"My, quite interesting indeed. I've seen Janna use one of these but I never bothered asking for the specifics." The queen spoke as she tapped away at the screen with her face full of wonder, like a child with a new toy. Through her mindless tapping, her screen suddenly showed an image of herself. This took her by shock and she reflexively leaned back away from the phone. "Oh dear!"

She realizes that it was her... reflection? "Marco, you didn't tell me that this thing has a mirror function. How handy!" She spoke with delight, and the boy stood next to her.

"Oh that's the camera app, you use it to take photos. This phone has a front camera and a back camera, so you can take selfies AND regular photos."

"Ah, what is a selfie again, my dear?"

"Here, I'll show you." Marco took the phone from her, sat down next to her in her office chair, and positioned the camera to capture both of them. "Smile, Eclipsa!"

The queen was a bit confused, but did so anyway. The screen of the device blinked, and Marco fiddled with the phone to go towards the gallery. Eclipsa was still clueless. "So, what was that all about?"

The boy simply responded by showing her the device's screen, it showed an image of her and the boy just moments ago. Her eyes widened in amazement. "I see! So it takes photos in an instant! That's quite the surprise!" She spoke with a giddy tone. "Let's take another!"

"O-okay, yeah! Sure." Marco agreed, and they proceeded to take many more selfies. The pair coming up with the silliest poses and filling the room with laughter as they zoomed in on their own faces.

"Oh, right. Before I forget." Marco says, "Here's the Notes app. You can type in your plans and important dates here, and just click this bell thing next to it so that the phone rings whenever you need a reminder." He explains carefully with Eclipsa grasping every single concept with utmost care and attention, she nodded and finally took the device.

"Thank you, Marco. This is gonna come in handy. Now I won't have to forget my meetings and duties." She stood and tidied up her table, Marco stood up as well.

"That's good! Now anyways, I gotta go attend a meeting with the knights. Just a quick status update on my end. See ya, queen!" Marco bowed really quick then walked out of the room, Eclipsa waved with a smile.

The queen then decided to walk towards Meteora's room to take photos of her, so she whipped out her new phone on the way. On the screen was a photo of her and Marco smiling. She thought it looked adorable and wanted to send it to Marco, but she realized a moment later that she didn't know how. So she decided to press buttons on the screen with the photo, not knowing which one led to what she wanted.

Eventually, she reached Meteora's room, and she had pressed all the buttons, but to no avail. She shrugged and decided to just ask Marco how to do it tomorrow. Eclipsa pressed the home button on her phone and was a bit surprised to see that her home screen was now the photo of her and Marco. She smiled.

"Oh, that's neat. I like it."

* * *

**Author's Note: First off, I am SUPER DUPER LIKE REALLLY INSANELY SORRY. It took me almost a year to update this story. Crazy how time flies when real life is happening. HAHAHA**

**But I've recently rewatched the show, and I remember that I decided to do a hiatus was because the ending of the show really threw me off. The ending was alright, but it had so much more potential. There was still so much to be explored upon, but I suppose we have fanfictions for that. Just a shame that the show ended at the point that it did, it could've gone on for another season for a cleaner ending. But hey, I'll take what I can get. And what I CAN get is that I can write my own ending, and therefore WELCOME BACK TO THIS FANFIC!**

**Reply to Reviews:**

**To retnuh1000 - I've re-read my story, and now that you mention it, yeah the action scenes ARE lacking. Thank you for pointing that out! As for the cop out thing, you have a point too, but perhaps I have a plan in mind hehehehe**

**To The Diamond Hybrid - I think the new chapter is coming out today. HAHAHA I'm really sorry for updating late.**

**To Phil Swift - You're gonna have to read on to find out ;)**

**To Notinterestingname - Sorry, you had to wait almost a whole year instead. HAHAHAHA aaaaaa but im baaaaack i missed ya'll**

**To allen Vth - Changes are indeed a-coming! For example: Me updating after almost a whole year. Yes, changes! **

**To Mr. Haziq - Nah, they just showed up due to intense emotion. Sorry I didn't make that clearer in the storyyy**

**To Princess Luka Vocalzal - You have a point! Meteora definitely needs to get out more! So stay tuned to find out if she doooeees. **


End file.
